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HISTORY 


GREAT  STAUGHTON 


gc  M.L.' 

942.56019 

St798w 

1357308 


GENEALOGY   COLLECTION 


ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBL  C  LIBRARY 


3  1833  00729  7424 


J/LcjMie+i.     (ft 


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in  2010  with  funding  from 

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U    ►. 

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o  * 

H   IS 
en    a 


A     HISTORY 
OF    THE     PARISH 


OF 


Great  £taugbfoi% 

HUNTINGDONSHIRE, 

BY 

THE     EATE     VICAR, 
THE     REV.     H.     G.     WATSON. 


St.  Neots  : 
Printed  and   Published  by  PERCY  C.  TOMSON. 


1916 


PREFACE 


Bishop  Creighton,  in  one  of  his  lectures  on  Ecclesiastical  History,  says  : 
"  The  clergy  are,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  the  guardians  of  their  Churches, 
and  the  keepers  of  the  records  of  their  parish  "  ;  and  he  also  says  :  "  Many 
valuable  records  of  the  past  are  daily  lost  because  no  one  understands 
them.  Parochial  histories,  the  results  of  the  leisure  of  busy  clergymen,  are 
amongst  the  valuable  contributions  to  local  history." 

Bishop  Mackarness,  in  his  last  charge  to  the  Diocese,  said  that  "  the 
clergy  should  not  be  content  with  making  the  histories  of  their  parishes, 
they  should  also  write  them."  A  ^^^QQtj 

What  has  been  said  by  these  two  Bishops  has  also  been  said  by  others. 

Many  Parish  Histories  have  of  late  years  appeared.  No  apology  there- 
fore is  needed  at  the  present  time  for  putting  forth  a  History  of  Great 
Staughton. 

The  principal  Parish  records  of  Great  Staughton  are,  in  the  first  place, 
the  Parochial  Registers  of  Baptisms,  Marriages,  and  Burials,  from  the  year 
1540  to  the  present  time.  Next,  the  Memorandum  Books  of  the  Vicars 
from  the  year  1710,  now  kept  at  the  Vicarage.  Next,  the  Churchwardens' 
Books  of  Accounts  and  Vestry  Meetings,  preserved  in  the  Parish  Chest. 
And  also  the  Award  Map  made  by  the  Enclosure  Commissioners  of  1804  of 
the  Parish  of  Great  Staughton.     These  are  the  written  records. 

The  records  of  a  more  permanent  kind  are  the  old  Church  itself,  together 
with  many  Monuments  and  their  memorial  inscriptions  ;  also  the  old 
Buildings,  or  sites  of  former  buildings,  such  as  the  Old  Manor  House, 
Place  House,  Staughton  House,  and  Gaynes  Hall. 

Many  things  gained  from  these  sources  have  from  time  to  time  been 
published  in  the  Parish  Magazine.  An  endeavour  is  made  in  this  volume 
to  bring  all  these  together  in  a  connected  manner,  with  much  additional 
matter,  and  also  with  gleanings  from  many  other  sources,  which  may  help 
to  illustrate  and  give  interest  to  those  events  which  are  known  and 
recorded. 


I  wish  in  this  Preface  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  I  have  received 
from  many  friends  and  neighbours. 

I  should  first  of  all  wish  to  thank  heartily  Mrs.  Pope,  of  Pertenhall,  a 
grand-daughter  of  a  former  Vicar  of  Great  Staughton,  for  the  many  valu- 
able and  useful  books  which  she  has  put  at  my  disposal  for  this  purpose  ; 
and  especially  for  that  kind  assistance  which  has  enabled  me  now  to  have 
this  book  printed. 

Then  I  must  acknowledge  the  assistance  I  have  received  from  an  old 
friend,  now  departed,  Thomas  Williams,  Rector  of  Aston  Clinton,  Bucks., 
formerly  Fellow  of  Jesus  College,  Oxford,  a  man  steeped  in  lore  concerning 
the  old  families  that  settled  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  Norman 
Conquest. 

I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Inskip  Ladds,  A.R.T.B.A.,  the  Diocesan 
Surveyor,  who  very  kindly  gave  to  me  the  results  of  his  researches  at  the 
British  Museum  concerning  the  old  families  who  once  lived  at  Great 
Staughton  ;  to  the  Rev.  W.  Mackreth  Noble,  Vicar  of  Wistow,  Hunts.,  for 
the  information  he  gave  me  concerning  the  Old  Rectors  and  Vicars  of 
Great  Staughton- -on  which  subject  he  is  a  recognised  authority;  to 
Mr.  Herbert  E.  Norris,  of  Cirencester,  for  information  concerning  the 
writings  of  J.  Gaule,  once  Vicar  of  Great  Staughton  ;  to  another  friend 
departed,  W.  G.  Pogson  Smith,  formerly  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  St.  John's 
College,  Oxford,  for  the  record  of  the  relation  of  the  living  of  Great 
Staughton  to  that  College  ;  to  the  late  Mr.  W.  Emery,  of  Eynesbury,  and 
others  in  the  neighbourhood,  for  many  facts  ;  and  lastly,  to  my  friend  and 
successor,  the  present  Vicar  of  Great  Staughton-,  for  his  constant  kind- 
ness in  supplying  me  with  details  of  events  which  have  happened  since  I 
left,  or  of  which  I  had  failed  to  take  notes  when  resident. 

II.  G.  W. 
April,  1916. 


11 


£8 

H   < 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  Village  of  Gt.  Staughton.     Origin  of  the  Name.     Probably  a  Settlement 
of  Engles.     Character  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  Township. 


a  SAXON  Township  "  (according  to  Green's  Making  of  England)  "  consisted 
•/%  of  a  cluster  of  Farmers'  homes,  each  set  in  its  own  little  croft ;  it  was 
^^^/  surrounded  by  an  earthern  mound  tipped  with  a  stockade,  or  quick- 
set hedge,  as  Avell  as  defended  externally  by  a  ditch  ;  each  township  was  thus  a 
ready-made  fortress  in  time  of  war,  and  its  entrenchments  were  very  serviceable  in 
the  feuds  of  village  with  village." 

Such  a  village  as  this  once  was  Staughton  ;  and  its  name  Staughton,  formerly 
written  "  Stoughton,"  and  before  that  "  Stoketon,"  or  "  Stockton,"  shews  that  it  once 
was  a  stockaded  township  such  as  that  described  above  ;  and  that  part  of  the  village 
which  now  clusters  round  the  Church,  and  is  still  called  "  the  Town,"  is  no  doubt 
the  original  township  of  "  Stockton." 

Staughton  is  a  widely  extended  parish  of  over  9  square  miles,  and  this  would 
answer  well  to  the  description  of  the  land  of  the  township,  as  given  by  Green,  as 
follows  :  "  Inside  the  mound  lay  the  homes  of  the  villagers,  the  farmsteads  with 
their  barns  and  cattle  sheds,  and  in  the  centre  of  them  rose  the  sacred  tree  or  mound, 
where  the  village  elders  met  in  the  tun-moot,  which  gave  order  to  their  social  and 
industrial  life.  Outside  the  mound,  in  close  neighbourhood  to  the  village,  lay  the 
home  pastures  and  folds,  where  the  calves  and  the  lambs  of  individual  cultivators 
were  reared. 

In  these  and  in  the  family  estate,  held  apart  from  the  lands  of  his  fellow  free- 
men, by  the  aetheling  or  noble,  we  find  the  first  signs  of  a  personal  property,  strongly 
in  contrast  with  the  common  holding,  Avhich  prevailed  through  the  rest  of  the 
township. 

Beyond  and  around  these  home  pastures  lay  the  village  plough  land,  generally 
massed  together  in  three  or  four  large  fields,  each  of  which  was  broken  by  raised 
balks  into  long  strips  of  soil  that  were  distributed  among  the  village  husbandmen. 
The  whole  was  enclosed  by  a  borderland,  or  '  mark,'  which  formed  the  common 
pasture,  where  flock  and  herd  could  be  turned  out  by  every  freeman  to  graze, 
though  in  number  determined  by  usage  or  the  "  rede  "  (decision)  of  the  village  moot. 

The  woodland  and  pasture  land  was  undivided,  and  every  free  villager  had  the 
right  of  turning  into  it  his  cattle  and  swine. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


The  meadow  land  lay  open  undivided  from  hay  harvest  to  Spring,  when  the 
grass  began  to  grow  afresh,  the  common  meadow  was  fenced  off  into  grass  fields, 
one  for  each  household  in  the  village,  and  when  hay  harvest  was  over  fence  and 
division  were  at  an  end  again.  The  plough  land  alone  was  permanently  allotted  in 
equal  shares  of  corn-land  and  fallow  land  to  the  families  of  the  freemen,  though 
even  the  plough  land  was  subject  to  fresh  division  as  the  number  of  claimants  grew 
greater  or  less. 

The  dress  of  the  freemen  was  that  which  has  been  brought  down  to  us  by  the 
ploughman  and  peasant  of  to-day,  viz. :  the  Smock  Frock,  a  coarse  linen  overcoat 
that  fell  to  the  knees,  whose  tight  sleeves  and  breast  were  worked  with  elaborate 
embroidery. 

The  houses,  as  there  was  plenty  of  forest  or  woodland  around,  were  built  of 
wood. 

The  centre  of  the  homestead  was  the  hall  with  the  hearth  fire  in  the  midst  of  it, 
whose  smoke  made  its  escape  as  best  it  could  through  a  hole  in  the  roof. 

The  hall  was  the  common  living  place  of  all  the  dwellers  within  the  house. 

Here  the  board,  set  up  on  trestles,  when  needed,  furnished  a  rough  table  for  the 
family  meal,  and  when  the  board  was  cleared  away  the  women  bore  the  beercups,  or 
drinking  horns,  to  the  house  master  and  his  friends  as  they  sat  on  the  settles  or 
benches  ranged  round  the  walls.  Here  too  when  night  came  on  and  the  fire  died 
down,  was  the  common  sleeping  place,  and  men  lay  down  to  rest  on  the  bundles  of 
straw  which  they  had  strewn  about  the  floor. 

Beside  the  hall  stood  chambers  for  women  and  the  household,  while  around  the 
farmyard  were  stable  and  threshing  floor  and  barn. 

The  homestead  had  to  be  in  the  main  its  own  provider. 

The  grain  had  not  only  to  be  sown  and  reaped,  but  to  be  made  into  bread  in  the 
household,  as  the  flax  was  not  only  gathered  but  woven  into  garments.  To  woman 
fell  much  of  the  outer  and  almost  all  the  inner  farm  work. 

It  was  she  who  milked  the  kine,  and  shore  the  sheep,  who  made  the  oheese,  and 
combed  the  wool  and  beat  the  flax,  while  her  name  of  "spinster"  still  reminds  us 
how  she  spun  the  thread  and  wove  the  wool  of  every  garment. 

The  building  in  which  this  work  went  on  lay  round  each  larger  homestead,  the 
mill  for  grinding  the  grits  or  rough  corn,  and  the  finer  wheat-meal,  the  oven  where 
the  loaf  was  baked,  the  common  loaf  or  white  bread  of  pure  wheat,  or  raised  loaf 
and  cake,  the  sheds  for  storing  wool  and  honey  and  wax,  the  malthouse  and  the 
brewery  with  its  bright  ale,  and  smooth  ale,  and  beer,  with  its  butter  and  its  cheese. 


"THE     OLD     SUNDIAL." 

POSSIBLY    ONCE    THE    OLD    VILLAGE    CROSS. 
FROM    A    PHOTOCRAPH    BY    MR.    J.    C.    BROWN,    PHOTOGRAPHER,    BEDFORD. 


TO    FACE    PACE    III. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


The  outer  work  of  the  farm  fell  upon  the  freeman  and  his  serfs.  The  oxherd  and 
cowherd,  the  shepherd  and  goatherd,  the  swineherd  who  drove  the  hogs  into  the 
forest  and  woodland  to  feed  on  the  oak  mast,  the  barn-man  and  the  sower  were  serfs 
in  the  wealthier  households,  or  on  the  estate  of  the  Lord,  who  had  gathered  a  town- 
ship about  him. 

But  io  the  free  townships  the  poorer  freeman  must  have  been  his  own  labourer, 
and  the  toil  necessitated  by  the  system  of  common  culture  was  severe. 

The  open  lands  of  the  common  pasture  were  often  far  from  any  homestead,  so 
that  through  the  long  winter  nights  from  Martinmas  to  Easter,  the  villagers  had  to 
take  their  turn  in  folding  and  guarding  the  horses  and  cattle  that  pastured  on  them ; 
the  need  of  fencing  off  the  common  meadow  into  separate  grass  fields  when  the 
grass  began  to  grow  afresh  in  the  Spring  was  yet  a  more  serious  burden,  and  besides 
all  these  the  Villager  had  to  help  in  the  maintenance  of  mound  and  ditch  around 
the  townships,  as  well  as  to  be  ready  when  called  to  join  in  the  hue  and  cry  in  chase 
of  stolen  cattle  or  to  follow  the  reeve  of  the  township  to  hundred  moot  and  town 
moot.*  " 

tWith  regard  to  the  township,  Bp.  Stubbs  says  :  "  The  '  tun  '  was  originally  the 
enclosure  or  hedge  whether  of  the  single  farm,  or  the  enclosed  village,  the  'burgh  ' 
was  the  fortified  house  of  the  powerful  man.  The  boundary  mark  of  the  tun  Avas 
sometimes  a  sacred  tree,  sometimes  burial  grounds  were  chosen  for  this  purpose." 

From  the  above  quotations  we  can  form  some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  village 
of  Gt.  Staughton  and  its  inhabitants  when  our  Anglo-Saxon  forefathers  first  settled 
there.. 

Besides  that  part  of  the  village  now  called  the  "  Town"  there  have  grown  up  in 
modern  times  groups  of  houses  called  the  Highway,  the  Green  and  Staughton 
Moor  ;  there  are  also  the  two  districts  called  Dillington  and  West  Perry,  which 
are  in  the  parish  of  Gt.  Staughton,  but  not  in  the  same  township  or  manor. 

In  1804  a  large  amount  of  common  land  was  enclosed,  and  portions  of  it 
assigned  to  the  Crown  as  the  Lord  of  the  Manor,  to  the  Lay  Rector,  to  the  Vicar,  to 
the  owners  of  Place  House  and  Gaynes  Hall,  and  also  to  the  Poor. 

A  copy  of  the  awards  and  the  award  map  shewing  the  disposal  of  the  land  are  at 
the  present  time  kept  in  the  Parish  Chest. 

Of  the  three  tribes,  the  Jutes,  the  Saxons  and  the  Engles,  it  is  probable  that  it 
was  a  party  of  the  Engles  that  settled  in  Gt.  Staughton. 


'Note. — From  Green's  Making  of  England. 
f  Bishop  Stubbs'  Constitutional  History. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


In  571  after  a  great  victory  by  the  West  Saxons  at  Bedcanford  (Bedford)  they 
spread  over  the  counties  of  Buckinghamshire,  Bedfordshire  and  Oxfordshire ;  but 
when  they  came  to  the  place  where  St.  Neots  now  is,  and  the  little  stream  of  the 
Kym,  which  runs  through  Gt.  Staughton  into  the  Ouse,  they  went  no  further,  and 
as  there  was  no  natural  obstacle  to  their  doing  so,  it  is  presumed  that  the  hostile 
tribe  of  the  Engles  stood  in  their  way  and  prevented  them  advancing.  For  the 
Engles  were  already  in  this  part.  They  had  landed  in  East  Anglia,  but  they  could 
not  progress  farther  in  a  direct  line  into  the  middle  of  England  because  of  the 
immense  amount  of  marsh  land  intervening  between  them  and  the  Midlands,  so  they 
went  up  the  Ilumber,  and  coming  down  from  the  North  proved  an  effectual  barrier 
against  the  advance  of  the  West  Saxons  just  on  the  borders  of  Huntingdonshire  and 
Bedfordshire. 

Where  Bedfordshire  and  Huntingdonshire  meet  is  the  border  line  between  the 
AVest  Saxons  and  the  Engles.  This  supposition  is  confirmed,  by  the  fact,  as 
affirmed  by  Green,  that  the  Bedfordshire  people  speak  a  Saxon  dialect  and  the 
Huntingdonshire  people  an  Engles  dialect. 

From  these  facts  we  conclude  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  tribe  of  Engles  who  settled 
in  Gt.  Staughton.  We  have  thus  seen  something  of  the  social  life  of  those  tribes 
who  settled  in  England. 

We  may  now  also  consider  something  of  their  political  condition. 

At  first  these  communities  consisted  only  of  Ceorl  or  Freeman  and  the  Eorl  or 
Noble.  The  Ceorl  or  Freeman  was  the  base  of  the  Society.  He  was  called  the  Free- 
man, or  Freenecked  man,  i.e.,  one  who  had  never  bowed  his  neck  to  any  Lord,  he 
was  also  called  the  Freeweaponed  man,  i.e.,  the  man  who  was  entitled  to  carry 
weapons. 

The  centre  of  the  community  was  the  Eorl  or  Aetheling,  whose  homestead  rose 
high  above  the  earlier  dwelling  of  the  Coerl. 

He  was  distinguished  from  the  Villagers  by  wealth  and  nobler  blood,  and  was 
held  in  reverence,  and  acted  as  their  leader. 

After  the  Ceorl  came  the  Loet,  who  though  not  a  slave  was  an  unfreeman,  and 
could  not  leave  the  land  without  the  consent  of  the  Lord,  land  was  assigned  to  him 
for  which  he  paid  rent  by  Avork  on  the  Lord's  land. 

After  the  Loet  came  the  Serfs,  they  were  the  slaves  of  the  freemen,  and  they  be- 
came slaves  by  captivity,  debt  or  crime. 

The  affairs  of  the  township  were  settled  by  meetings  at  some  sacred  tree  or 
mound,  this  was  the  tun  moot  or  Town  Meeting  or  Parish  Council. 


THE     WAUTON     TOMB-MONUMENT     OF     SIR     GEORGE     WALTON, 

LORD    OF    THE     MANOR." 
FROM    A    PHOTOGRAPH    BY     MR      LADDS,    A.R.I.BA. 


TO    FACE    CHAP.    II. 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  Manor  of  Great  Staughton.     The  Burgh  the  Dwelling  of  the  Saxon 

Atheling.       The  Saxon  Burgh  developed  into  the  Norman  Manor.  The 

Athelings  became  Thegns  and  Lords  of  the  Manor.      List   of   the  Lords 

of  thb  Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton. 


y-^v  N  a  hill  North  West  of  Great  Staughton  Church  is  a  little  Farm  House 
g-B  1  marked  on  the  Ordnance  Map  "  Old  Manor  House,"  close  to  this  is  an 
^-J  enclosure  surrounded  by  two  well  defined  moats  shewing  that  here  plainly 
once  stood  a  fortified  dwelling. 

This  place  in  old  documents  and  maps  is  also  called  Cretinsbury  or  Cretinburgh. 

The  termination  "  burgh"  indicating  that  this  was  the  fortified  dwelling  of  the 
"  Atheling"  or  powerful  man  of  the  tribe.  And  this,  as  it  now  has  the  name  of  the 
Manor  House,  must  have  afterwards  become  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  of 
Gt.  Staughton,  for  the  Saxon  township  afterwards  developed  into  the  Manor. 

The  word  Manor  comes  from  the  French  Manoir  or  dwelling,  and  was  at  first 
applied  to  the  land  Avhich  those  Athelings  or  Nobles  of  the  Saxon  township  held  of 
the  King,  because  on  it  was  their  dwelling. 

When,  as  we  learn  from  Green,  the  settlement  of  the  township  was  no  longer- 
isolated,  but  had  become  united  to  its  neighbours  for  the  purpose  of  war  under  the 
tribal  chief  or  Alderman,  and  still  mure  as  the  tribe  became  united  into  one 
Kingdom  under  a  King,  the  influence  and  dignity  of  the  Local  Atheling  and  the 
free  Ceorl  were  necessarily  diminished. 

The  more  active  and  prominent  Athelings  offered  themselves  to  the  King  for 
Military  service  to  be  his  comrades  or  body  guard  *  And  thus  they  were  raised  to  a 
higher  dignity  and  called  "  Thegns."  And  they  were  rewarded  by  the  Kings  with 
grants  of  land  out  of  the  vacant  Folkland  all  over  the  country,  or,  indeed  as  in 
course  of  time  all  the  land  became  vested  in  the  King,  out  of  those  lands  once  held 
in  common  by  the  free  Ceorls,  and  those  Thegns  became  Lords  of  the  Manor,  and 
held  their  land  of  the  King  on  condition  of  Military  service,  and  part  of  this  land 
was  said  to  be  their  "  demesne."  And  they  in  their  turn  granted  the  other  land  to 
the  free  Ceorls,  to  be  held  by  them  on  condition  of  Military  service  to  the  Lords  of 
the  Manor.     Thus  there  arose  a  new  order  of  Nobility.     The  Thegns  were  Lords, 

*  The  body  guard  of  the  King  were  called  "  comites  Regis  "  Hence  came,  through  the 
French,  the  title  of  "  Count."  In  this  way  the  Saxon  "  Eorl  "  became  the  Norman 
"  Count." 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


the  old  Athelinga  freeholders,  and  so  in  course  the  old  free  Ceorls  sunk  into  partial 
servitude,  holding  their  land  of  the  Lord  on  condition  of  service,  and  of  rent,  and  of 
payments  in  kind,  and  some  Ceorls.  by  debt  or  crime  became,  though  not  slaves  in 
the  modern  sense,  yet  unfree.  They  could  not  leave  their  land  without  the  consent 
of  the  Lord,  and  yet  had  to  pay  certain  rent  for  it,  chiefly  in  kind.  They  also  had 
to  do  the  work  on  the  Lord's  land.  They  were  called  Villain  or  Farmers,  in  more 
modern  language  Villains.    The  average  number  of  acres  held  by  the  Villains  was  30. 

A  certain  payment  had  to  be  paid  to  the  Lord  on  taking  the  land,  on  the 
marriage  of  a  daughter,  or  on  sending  a  son  to  the  University  for  the  purpose  of 
being  ordained. 

On  the  death  of  a  Villain  a  heavy  fine  had  to  be  paid  to  the  Lord  by  the  son  on 
succeeding  to  the  land. 

Even  to  quite  modern  days  the  owner  of  such  property  as  this,  called  copyhold, 
was  entitled  to  take  as  a  fine  that  which  was  most  valuable  on  the  land. 

The  tenant  had  to  perform  his  allotted  number  of  days  in  tilling  his  Lord's  land. 
In  kind  he  usually  rendered  honey,  eggs,  chickens,  and  perhaps  a  plowshare.  These 
tenants  were  in  later  times  called  copyhold  tenants. 

Another  class  of  inhabitants  were  the  Cotters.  They  were  the  poor  of  the  Manor 
who  had  a  cottage  and  a  garden,  and  perhaps  an  acre  or  half  of  one  in  the  field. 
From  these  were  drawn  the  Shepherd  and  the  Beekeeper,  and  other  minor  officials 
of  the  Manor. 

With  regard  to  Jurisdiction,  matters  criminal,  civil  or  manorial,  were  settled  in 
the  Manor  Court,  presided  over  by  the  Lord's  Steward,  called  the  "  Reeve."  The 
judgement  was  given  by  the  tenants  present  and  the  law  was  settled  by  them,  the 
Sentence  was  pronounced  by  the  Steward. 

To  the  Lords  of  Large  Manors  were  sometimes  granted  the  privilege  of  holding 
Markets  and  Fairs  on  the  Manor.  The  weekly  Markets  were  held  for  the  same  pur- 
poses as  they  are  now.  Where  there  was  no  privilege  of  Market  there  no  shops 
could  be  opened.  To  the  annual  Fairs  came  travelling  merchants  bringing  their 
wares,  and  this  was  the  only  means  by  which  the  dwellers  in  the  neighbourhood 
could  obtain  those  commodities  which  we  all  now  use  in  our  every  day  life.  To  the 
Fairs  also  came  companies  of  strolling  players,  and  miracle  plays  were  sometimes 
performed,  i.e.,  some  of  the  facts  of  the  Christian  religion  were  exhibited  by  means 
of  action.  And  thus  in  days  when  few  could  read  (and  there  was  little  preaching) 
men  were  instructed  in  the  truths  of  the  Christian  Faith  by  these  exhibitions.  And 
from  these  miracle  plays  have  sprung  the  theatrical  performances  of  the  modern 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


stage.     Fairs  were  sometimes  held  in  Churchyards  and  sometimes  on  Sundays,  but 
in  the  thirteenth  century  this  practice  was  forbidden. 

Amongst  other  so  called  privileges  of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  was  the  gruesome 
one  of  a  "  Free  Gallows."  This  was  a  privilege  which  many  were  not  slow  to  use. 
And  malefactors  in  travelling  about  the  Country  were  everywhere  met  by  the  signs 
of  the  fate  which  would  befall  them  if  they  continued  their  depredations  on  the 
property  of  their  fellows. 

With  the  spread  of  civilization,  the  Manor  Court  as  a  legislative  or  judicial 
institution  has  disappeared,  but  as  an  institution  regulating  the  law  of  tenancy  with 
regard  to  copyhold  tenants  is  still  part  of  the  law  of  the  country,  and  persons  becom- 
ing copyhold  tenants  still  have  to  go  through  antique  ceremonies  before  the  Steward 
of  the  Manor,  have  to  pay  quit  rents,  and  are  liable  to  the  payment  of  the  fines  due 
in  old  times. 

The  Lords  of  the  Manor  still  have  these  rights  with  regard  to  these  tenants  of 
the  Manor.  Also  certain  rights  with  regard  to  timber  on  the  land  and  with  regard 
to  minerals  under  the  land. 

The  reference  to  Gt.  Staughton  Manor  in  Domesday  Book  is  we  believe  under  the 
name  of  Tokestone,  thus — 

"  In  Tokestone  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  had  VI  hides  paying  geld.  There  is  land 
for  XVI  ploughs.  There  are  now  in  demesne  II  ploughs  and  a  half,  and 
XVI  villeins  and  iiij  borderers  having  VIII  ploughs.  There  is  a  Priest  and 
a  Church,  and  xxiiij  acres  of  meadow  land  and  a  acre  woody  pasture  in  the 
time  of  King  Edward,  and  now  x  pounds.  The  Abbott  of  Ramsey  claims 
over  the  Bishop  in  this  Manor." 

Thus  from  Domesday  we  learn  of  the  Existence  of  the  Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton, 
in  the  middle  of  the  Eleventh  Century,  and  of  its  being  held  by  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln  under  the  Abbott  of  Ramsey  in  the  Reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and 
paying  rent  £10  (equivalent  to  at  least  £300  of  our  money  at  the  present  time)  and 
Eustace  held  it  under  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 

In  the  valuation  of  the  livings  of  England  made  by  order  of  the  Pope  in  the  time 
of  Edward  the  First  we  learn  that  Geoffrey  de  Mandeville  was  Lord  of  the  Manor  at 
that  time  ;  and  his  name  is  mentioned  as  Lord  of  the  Manor  in  the  license  granted 
by  Grossteste,  the  famous  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  to  the  Engaynes  of  Gaynes  Hall,  to 
enable  them  to  have  a  private  Chapel  at  Gaynes. 

We  may  note  here  that  the  Duke  of  Manchester,  who,  having  a  seatatKimbolton, 
bears  the  title  of  Viscount  Mandeville,  probably  is  descended  from  this  old  Lord  of 
the  Manor  of  Great  Staughton. 


history  of  great  staughton. 


The  next  name  we  hear  of  in  the  List  of  the  Lords  of  the  Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton 
is  that  of  Eynsford.  William  de  Eynsford  is  spoken  of  as  owning  the  Manor  in 
1205  (?).  On  his  death  W.  Eynsford  left  2  daughters.  One  married  Nicolas  de 
Criol.  The  other  married  Simon  de  Criol.  Of  the  latter  we  hear  that  he  pre- 
sented the  living  of  Gt.  Staughton  to  Bertram  de  Criol  in  1264.  Simon  de  Criol 
was  succeeded  in  the  Manor  by  William  Criol,  who  died  in  1272,  leaving  3  daughters, 
of  these  Beatrice  married  Anselm  de  Guise  and  Nicola  married  Sir  Adam  de  Cretin 
who  thus  succeeded  to  the  Manor.  Sir  Adam  de  Cretin  was  a  Knight  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  French  Wars  of  Edward  the  1st.  From  him  the  Manorial 
residence  got  the  name  of  Cretinsbury.  This  is  the  name  of  the  Manor  of  Gt. 
Staughton  as  we  find  it  in  old  documents.  Sir  Adam  was  succeeded  by  John  de 
Cretin,  and  John  by  Giles,  who  was  living  in  1330,  and  he  in  his  turn  by  Edmund, 
who  was  living  in  1338. 

Again  the  Manorial  property  passed  to  another  family,  namely,  the  Wautons  or 
Wavendons.  Sir  John  de  Wauton  married  the  daughter  of  Sir  Edmund  de  Cretin, 
the  heiress  of  Gt.  Staughton.  John  de  Wauton  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Thomas, 
and  the  names  of  both  John  and  Thomas  de  Wauton  are  recorded  as  Knights  of  the 
Shire  for  Huntingdonshire  in  the  Parliaments  of  Edward  III  and  Richard  II.  We 
may  here  note  that  it  was  in  the  time  of  Sir  Adam  de  Cretin  that  the  Rectory 
and  Advowson  of  Gt.  Staughton  was  transferred  as  an  endowment  to  the  newly 
founded  Monastery  of  the  Carthusians  in  London.  That  house  thus  became  the 
Rector  and  Patron  of  the  living,  and  the  Monastery  having  become  the  impropriator 
of  the  Rectory  of  Gt.  Staughton,  the  Priest  appointed  by  them  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  Parish  was  called  the  Vicar  or  deputy  of  the  Rector. 

The  century  in  which  these  Cretins  and  Wautons  lived  is  a  notable  one  in  the 
history  of  our  country.  In  this  century  English  was  becoming  the  National 
language.  For  since  the  Conquest  Norman  French  had  been  the  language  of  the 
upper  classes,  Latin  that  of  the  Learned,  and  English  that  of  the  mass  of  the  people. 
But  in  this  period  English,  the  language  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  was  becoming 
the  language  of  all  the  Nation.  Chaucer,  our  first  great  English  Poet,  was  writing 
his  poems  in  English  and  so  making  the  language. 

A  great  change  also  was  taking  place  in  the  social  condition  of  the  cultivators  of 
the  land.  As  we  have  seen,  under  the  feudal  system  of  the  Manor  the  land  was 
cultivated  by  the  Ceorls,  who  had  sunk  into  a  partial  condition  of  serfdom,  were 
tied  to  the  land,  and  were  compelled  to  cultivate  it  by  the  Lord  of  Manor.  They 
were  called  Villeins.  But  during  this  period  the  "  Villains  "  became  /ree  tenants  ; 
and  so  those  below  them  in  the  Manorial  system  were  called  "  Cotters,"  (and  were 
in  a  condition  of  complete  serfdom)  then  became  free  labourers. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


In  the  Church  there  is  a  monument  to  Sir  George  Wauton,  a  descendant  of  the 
Wauton  family  and  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton.  This  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory  by  Sir  Oliver  Cromwell,  of  Hinchingbrook,  uncle  of  the  Pro- 
tector, who  was  for  a  time  a  tenant  of  Gaynes  Hall.  Sir  George  Wauton  and  Sir 
Oliver  Cromwell  were  great  friends,  and  both  were  present  with  their  armed 
retainers  at  Tilbury  at  the  time  of  Spanish  Armada,  many  of  whom  bore  names  of 
families  still  living,  or  until  recently  still  living  in  Great  Staughton.  The  name 
of  Sir  George  Wauton  is  on  the  tenor  bell  of  the  Church.  He  was  knighted  by 
James  1st  in  1604  and  died  in  1606. 

The  following  is  the  Latin  inscription  on  his  tomb  : — 

Georgius  Wauton  Eques  auratus 

Egressus  ex  hac  vita  quarto  nonas  Junii 

Anno  parte  salutis  millesimo  sexcentessimo 

Sexto  statis  sue  septuagesimo  secundo 

Sub  spe  melioris  resurrectionis 

Hoc  est  conditus  monumento  quod 

Oliverus  Cromwell  miles  de  la  Bathe 

Amicus  optimus  optimo  amico  in  mutui 

Amoris,  vereque  gratitudinis 

Testimonium  persolutis  ante  Justis 

Funeribus  posuit  et  locavit 

[translation  ] 

George  Wauton  Knight 

Departed  this  life  on  the  second  of  June 

In  the  year  of  our  redemption  1606 

and  of  his  own  age  72 

In  the  hope  of  a  Resurrection  to  a  better  life 

He  was  buried  beneath  this  monument. 

This,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Knight  of  the  Bath, 

A  very  dear  friend  to  a  very  dear  friend 

In  token  of  their  mutual  affection  and  his  sincere  gratitude 

After  the  funeral  ceremonies  had  been  duly  performed, 

Erected  and  placed  here  in  the  aforesaid  year. 

[Note. — "  Eques  Auratus  "  in  the  above  inscription  might  be  translated  "  Gilded  Spur 
Knight"  which  is  only  the  fuller  form  for  "  Knight."  The  Spurs  of  Knights 
were  gilded,  those  of  Squires  silver.] 

He  was  succeeded  in  the  Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton  by  Valentine  Wauton,  whose 
name  occurs  several  times  in  the  Registers  of  Gt.  Staughton,  and  who  had  several 


10  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

children  baptized  in  that  Church.  Valentine  Wauton  married  Margaret,  sister  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  the  Protector.  The  register  of  their  marriage  is  to  be  found  in  the 
books  of  S.  John's  Church,  Huntingdon.  As  might  be  expected  from  the  Alliance 
of  Valentine  Wauton  with  the  Cromwell  family  he  became  a  rigid  parliamentarian. 
His  name  appears  on  the  Commission  appointed  to  try  Charles  I,  and  he  appears  to 
have  been  present  at  almost  all  the  meetings  of  the  Commission.  It  was  through 
his  influence  that  the  plate  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  intended  to  be  devoted 
to  the  service  of  the  King,  was  diverted  from  that  purpose.  He  was  at  one  time 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Royalists,  but  was  afterwards  exchanged  and  became  a 
Colonel  in  the  Parliamentary  Army. 

When  General  Monk  was  endeavouring  to  effect  the  restoration  of  the  Monarchy, 
Valentine  Wauton  fled  the  Country  and  went  to  Holland,  where  he  lived  under  a 
feigned  name,  working  as  a  gardener,  and  there  he  died.  On  the  restoration,  his 
land,  as  that  of  a  Regicide,  was  confiscated  ;  and  the  Crown  is  now  Lord  of  the 
Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton. 

The  Manor  House  itself  has  long  been  pulled  down,  but  the  place  where  it  stood 
is  still  evident.  And  the  underground  chambers  of  the  house  are  still  to  be  found. 
A  small  farm  house  close  by,  called  the  "  Old  Manor  House,"  is  the  only  building 
that  now  remains  of  that  which  was  once  the  "  Burgh  "  of  the  Atheling  of  the  Engle 
township  of  Great  Staughton. 

It  is  said  that  the  remains  of  the  Old  Manor  House  were  used  for  building  the 
wall  of  the  Garden  of  Staughton  House,  and  also  for  the  building  of  Crown  Farm, 
in  1815,  now  in  the  occupancy  of  Mr.  Ekins.  Also  the  materials  of  the  dog  kennels 
which  were  up  on  the  hill  were  used  to  build  four  cottages  in  the  town  in  what  is 
is  now  called  the  Square,  the  date  of  their  erection  being  apparently  between  1790 
and  1796. 


m 


i  - 

UJ 

UJ     I 

U    H 


CHAPTER    III. 

Place    House    or    the    Manor    of    Beachamstead.      The    De    Beauchamps. 

The  Leders.     The  Dyers.      The  Walters.      The  Dubbrlys. 

The  Dyers'  Monument. 


iT"XPPOSITE  the  Church  is  an  interesting  old  building  known  by  the  name  of 
^\9  Place  House.  It  has  been  a  good  deal  disfigured  by  the  spreading  of 
plaster  over  the  old  external  brickwork  and  by  the  cutting  out  of  the  old 
windows  ;  also  a  considerable  part  of  the  house  must  have  been  pulled  down,  and  it 
is  said  to  have  been  injured  by  a  fire  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  It  is  probably  an 
old  manor  house  of  the  Elizabethian  period.  A  descendant  of  the  Walter  family, 
the  last  resident  owners  of  the  place,  was  told  that  the  house  once  had  a  "  splendid 
drawing  room  and  a  marble  staircase."     It  is  now  used  as  a  Farm  House.* 

The  name  '  Place  House '  probably  means  '  Palace '  House  or  '  Court '  House.  As 
this  property  is  described  as  the  "  Manor  of  Beachamstead  "  Ave  conclude  that  this  is 
the  Manor  House  of  the  de  Beauchamps.  We  hear  of  Hugo  de  Beauchamp  claiming 
a  large  part  of  Gt.  Staughton  in  the  13th  century.  There  were  branches  of  the 
family  of  the  de  Beauchamps  in  the  neighbouring  County  of  Bedford,  e.g.,  at  Bed- 
ford Castle  and  at  Eaton  Socon.  The  Barony  of  the  de  Beauchamps  is  now  extinct, 
but  Lord  S.  John,  of  Bletsoe,  is  one  of  the  descendants. 

John  Leland  in  his  Itinerary  (1538)  refers  to  this  house  as  follows  :  "From 
S,  Neots  to  Stoughton  Village  by  some  enclosed  ground  about  3  miles,  it  is  in 
Huntingdonshire.  There,  hard  by  the  Church,  is  a  pretty  house  of  Oliver  Leder 
and  pretty  commodities  about  it.  From  Stoughton  to  Melchbourn  Village  about  4 
miles  there  be  much  pasture  and  some  corn  ground.  'Slow'  water  cometh  to 
Stoughton  Village  and  then  a  mile  lower  than  S.  Neots  into  the  Ouse  River." 

This  is  the  Oliver  Leder  who,  according  to  the  copy  of  the  deed  preserved  in  the 
Vicarage,  bought  the  Rectory  and  Rectory  Manor  of  Henry  VIII  in  ]  539  for  £1430. 
For  the  Rectory  and  the  Rectory  Manor  of  Gt,  Staughton  having  been  part  of  the 
endowment  of  the  Carthusian  Monastery,  when  that  Religious  House  was  suppressed 
by  Henry  VIII  and  its  endowments  appropriated  by  him,  he  sold  the  Living  of 
Gt.  Staughton  to  Oliver  Leder  and  Frances  his  wife.  This  is  the  Oliver  Leder  who 
is  referred  to  in  the  inscription  on  some  carved  oakwork  in  the  Church,  thus  : 
'•  Of  your  charyte  pray  for  the  good  estate  of  Olyver  Leder  and  Frances  his  wife. 
Anno  Domini,  1539." 

*Note. — Around  the  house  there  is  a  moat,  one  of  four  moats  to  be  found  in  the  parish  of 
Gt.  Staughton,  thus  showing  that  it  was  once  a  fortified  dwelling. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


Frances,  wife  of  Olyver  Leder,  was  a  Baldwyn,  a  member  of  the  Baldwyn  family 
who  were  living  at  that  time  at  Stanghton  House.  Olyver  Leder  died  in  1557  and 
his  wife  in  the  year  following.  On  her  death  the  property  of  Staughton  Rectory 
passed  to  her  uncle,  Thomas  Baldwin,  of  Staughton  House. 

In  the  Edwardian  Inventories  for  Huntingdonshire  we  learn  that  when  Olyver 
Leder  was  at  Place  House  the  roof  of  the  Church  fell  in,  and  that  he  lent  money  to 
the  Churchwardens  to  assist  them  in  repairing  the  Church,  and  that  certain  orna- 
ments of  the  Church  such  as  vestments  and  richly  embroidered  cloths  and  other 
Church  Furniture  were  sold  to  help  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  repairs. 

In  the  list  of  the  High  Sheriffs  for  the  County  of  Huntingdon  we  find  in  1554,  in 
the  Reign  of  Queen  Mary,  the  name  of  Oliver  Leder,  of  Place  House,  Hunts. ,  one  of 
the  High  Sheriffs. 

In  the  Will  of  the  Olyver  Leder  in  the  Archdeaconry  of  Hunts.  XI,  84,  we  find 
as  follows  :  "  Olyver  Leder  of  Moche  Stoughton,  Esquier,  21  Sept.  1st  and  2nd  year  of 
Philip  and  Mary.  My  body  to  be  buried  on  the  North  side  of  the  Quire  next  to  the 
wall  of  the  High  Altar  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Moche  Stoughton  (if  I  die  there.)  " 

On  the  death  of  Frances  Leder  in  1558,  the  Rectory  and  Rectory  Manor  passed 
as  we  have  seen  to  Thomas  Baldwin,  of  Staughton  House.  But  the  Manor  of 
Beachamstead  was  purchased  by  Sir  James  Dyer,  of  Wincanton,  Lord  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Common  Pleas,  who  then  came  to  reside  at  Great  Staughton  in  Place  House. 

It  appears  from  the  extract  taken  from  the  Register  of  the  Archdeaconry  of  Hunt- 
ingdon 2,  298,  that  some  members  of  the  Dyers  family  were  living  in  Gt.  Staughton 
before  Sir  James  Dyer  came,  and  this  was  probably  the  reason  why  he  purchased 
this  property  and  came  to  live  there. 

The  following  is  the  extract  of  the  will  of  Edward  Dyer:  "20  Aug.,  1520,  I, 
Edward  Dyer,  of  Much  Stoughton,  desire  to  be  buried  on  the  High  Aisle  before  the 
Steeple." 

Sir  James  Dyer  was  in  1558  in  the  last  and  short  Parliament  of  Edward  VI 
made  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.  He  is  the  author  of  an  important  Law- 
book entitled  "  Reports  of  Cases  in  the  Reign  of  Henry  VIII,  Edward  VI,  Queen 
Mary  and  Queen  Elizabeth,"  highly  commended  by  Sir  Edward  Coke,  and  still 
quoted  in  the  Courts  of  Law. 

In  the  Herald's  Visitation  of  Huntingdonshire  of  1613  we  find  the  pedigree  of 
the  Dyer  (or  as  they  spell  it  Deyer)  family,  also  a  copy  of  the  coat  of  arms  granted  to 
this  Sir  James  by  the  College  of  Heralds.  He  married  Margaret,  a  daughter  of— 
Barrowe  and  widow  of  Sir  Thomas  Elliot  and  died  without  children.      He   was 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


succeeded  in  this  property  by  his  great  nephew,  Sir  Richard,  the  grandson  of  John, 
the  brother  of  Sir  James. 

William  Dyer,  the  son  of  Sir  Richard,  was  living  at  Staughton  in  1613  when  the 
Herald's  Visitation  of  that  place  was  made.  He  had  a  son  and  heir  named 
Ludovic,  who  was  8  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  Herald's  Visitation.  There  is  a 
tomb  in  Colmworth  Church  with  the  recumbent  figure  of  Sir  Ludovic  Dyer  on  it. 
He  therefore  probably  had  property  and  a  residence  also  in  that  Parish.  His 
signature  is  found  in  the  books  recording  the  meetings  of  the  Parish  Vestry  in  Gt. 
Staughton  Parish. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Queen  Elizabeth  in  one  of  her  progresses  through  the 
Country  stayed  at  Place  House  in  the  time  of  Sir  James  Dyer,  and  as  he  was  one  of 
her  Judges  it  is  not  unlikely. 

Margaret  Dyer,  wife  of  Sir  James,  died  in  1562,  and  he  in  1582.  On  the  North 
wall  of  the  Chancel  there  is  a  tomb  to  the  memory  of  Sir  James  Dyer  and  his  wife, 
and  also  of  Sir  Richard  Dyer,  his  great  nephew  and  his  wife.  Under  a  canopy  kneel 
Sir  James  in  his  legal  robes,  and  Margaret,  his  wife,both  facing  Sir  Richard,  ard 
Marie,  his  wife.  On  the  upper  part  of  the  tomb  over  Sir  James  is  this  inscription  : 
"Here  lyeth  Sir  James  Dyer,  some  time  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and 
Dame  Margaret  his  wife,  which  Dame  Margaret  was  here  interred  on  the  six  and 
twentieth  day  of  August  in  the  year  1569  and  the  said  Sir  James  upon  the  five  and 
twentieth  of  March  1582." 

Then  follows  a  metrical  Epitaph  in  Latin  on  Sir  James  : 
"  Deyero  tumulum  quid  statuis  Nepos  ? 

Qui  vivit  volitatque  ora  per  omnium 

Exegit  mon omenta  ipse  perennia 

In  queis  spirat  adhuc,  spirat  in  his  themis, 

Libertas,  pietas,  munificentia, 

En  decreta,  libros,  vitam,  obitum  Senis 

Aeternas  statuas  has  statuit  sibi, 

Aeternis  statuis  cedite  marmora." 

Of  this  the  following  is  a  paraphase  : 

"  A  marble  tomb  thou  hast  erected  here 
Memorial  sacred  of  a  kinsman  dear, 
But  why  memorial  should'st  thou  wish  to  give 
Of  one  who  with  us,  by  his  fame  will  live, 
By  charity,  by  Faith  in  God,  by  love 
Of  Freedom,  and  by  hope  of  bliss  above. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 


By  these  he  lives,  by  these  to  men  is  known 

By  these  the  glory  of  his  God  is  shewn 

To  such  a  man  what  trophy  would  you  raise  ? 

What  words  would  you  inscribe  to  sing  his  praise 

His  writings,  and  his  righteous  Judgment  clear, 

His  life,  his  death,  do  make  his  fame  appear ! 

More  lasting  these,  0  ye  this  tomb  who  pass, 

Than  monuments  of  marble  or  of  brass 

These  will  endure  when  tomb  and  urn  and  bust, 

Vain  things  of  time,  are  crumbling  into  dust." 

Under  this  is  this  statement :  "  This  part  of  the  tomb  was  erected  by  Sir  Richard 
Dyer,  grandson  of  John  Dyer,  brother  of  Sir  James  Dyer.'' 

Over  Richard  Dyer,  and  Dame  Marie,  his  wife,  is  the  following  inscription: 
"Here  lyeth  Sir  Richard  Dyer,  Knight,  late  one  of  the  Privy  Chamber  to  our 
Soverain  Lord  King  James,  and  Marie,  his  wife,  daughter  of  Sir  Fitz  William, 
Knight,  some  time  the  Lord  Deputie  of  Ireland,  which  Dame  Marie  was  here  interred 
the  two  and  twentieth  day  of  October  in  the  year  1601,  and  the  said  Sir  Richard 
upon  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  December  in  the  year  1605." 
Then  follows  a  Latin  Epitaph  on  Sir  Richard  and  his  wife  : 
"  Nobile  Par  migrat,  Maria  prior,  inde,  secundus, 

Vi  nequit  amissae  reddere  terra  parem, 
Unus  hie  e  multis,  fuit  hsec  ex  omnibus  una 

Hos  amor,  hos  torus,  hos  uniit  hie  tumulus, 
Tandem  individuos  felicior  unit  Olympus 
Unum  ubi  certatim  laudat  uterque  Deum." 

The  following  is  the  metrical  paraphrase  of  above  : 

"  Gone  are  they  now  the  parents  of  your  love 

Gone  from  their  home  below  to  that  above 

Dream  not  their  like  on  earth  again  to  see 

Yet  sorrow  not  your  loss  their  gain  will  be 

They  here  were  one  in  love,  and  wedlock  blest 

And  still  are  one  in  their  eternal  rest 

And  now  for  ever  in  that  world  of  light 

To  sing  the  praises  of  one  God  unite." 
"  This   part  of  the  monument  was  erected  by  Sir  William  Dyer,  son  of  Sir 
Richard." 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


Sir  Richard   was   present  with  the  troops  at  Tilbury,  called  out  to  meet  the 
Spanish  Armada,  as  well  as  Sir  George  Wauton  and  Sir  Oliver  Cromwell.     Sir 
Richard  Dyer  was  succeeded  at  Place  House  by  his  son,   Sir  William,  and  he  again 
by  his  son,  Sir  Ludovic.     Of  this  Sir  Ludovic  we  have  the  record  that  he  was  High 
Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Huntingdon  in  the  time  of  Charles  I,  1635.     Also  that 
Ludovic  in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  being  a  Royalist,  compounded  for  the 
privilege  of  keeping  his  estate  by  making  a  payment  of  money  at  Goldsmiths'  Hall. 
In  the  Churchwardens'  Books  of  Gt.  Staughton  we  have  the  following  entry  :  — 
"  Memorand  :  That  these  accounts  were  exhibited  in  the  fifteenth  day  of  May, 
1638,  and  then  allowed  by  us,  whose  names  are  here  sub- 
scribed— 
Lo:  Dyer  Tho  :  Baldwin 

John  Baldwin  John  Gaule 

Nath  :  Lawrence  John  Spencer 

together  with  the  names  of  8  others  not  easily  to  be  deciphered. 

We  also  have  the  record  of  several  members  of  the  Dyer  family  being  admitted 
to  the  Middle  Temple,  thus— 

17  April  1624  Mr  Lewis  and  Heir  of  Wm  Dyer  of  Staughton  Magna  Hunt- 
ingdon, deceased  specially  bound  with  Thos  Syderpin  and  Rob  :  Barnard 
£4.  0  0. 

7th  Nov.  1576  Rich  :  Dyer  late  of Gentleman  Son  and  Heir  of  Lan 

Dyer  of  Wincanton  Somerset  specially  James  Dyer  Son  and  heir  appart.  of 

Richard  Dyer  deceased  5th  June  1598. 

Francis  2nd  Son  of  Richd.  Dyer  of  Staughton  Magna  Huntingdon  specially 

by  request  Henry  Mountague  Recorder  of  London  27th  May  1603. 

Mr  Dyer  (Reader  of  the  Middle  Temple)  26th  July  1552. 

Mr  Edward  Dyer  3rd  Son  of  Richard  Dyer  Staughton  Magna  Huntingdon 

specially  bound  with  Sidney  Mountague  and  Tim   Wagstaffe  for  £4.  25th 

June  1613. 

Mr  Edward  Dyer  to  have  half  a  chamber  on  the  3rd  story  on  the  west  side 

of  a  new  building  by  Inner  Temple  Lane  on  assignment  by  Mr  Grantchester." 

There  are  many  entries  of  the  Dyer  family  in  the  Registers  of  Gt  Staughton 
Church.  After  the  Dyers  Family  the  Manor  of  Beachamstead  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Sir  Edward  Coke  and  continued  in  his  family  from  1661  to  1713. 

After  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Lord  Foley,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  was  Lord 
of  the  Manor  of  Beachamstead  for  5  years.     He  was  succeeded  by  Col.  John  Howe  in 


16  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

1718.  Col.  John  Howe  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  White  Kennett,  Bishop  of  Peter- 
boro',  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter  named  Sophia  in  1714.  Sophia  Howe  in  1741 
was  married  to  Christopher  Walters,  son  of  Arthur  Walters,  of  Ludgate  Hill. 

Christopher  WTalters  was,  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  as  it  is  supposed,  an 
Attorney,  but  between  the  years  1746  and  1752  he  was  ordained. 

Place  House  through  the  marriage  of  Sophia  Howe  with  Christopher  Walters 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Walters  family.  They  were  in  possession  of  Place 
House  and  the  Manor  of  Beachamstead  at  the  time  of  the  Enclosure  Act  (1804).  The 
Award  Map  for  Great  Staughton  exhibits  the  land  belonging  to  the  Walters  at  that  time. 

We  have  an  ever-constant  Memorial  of  Christopher  Walters  and  Sophia  his  wife 
in  the  Communion  Plate  (consisting  of  Paten  and  Chalice  and  Alms  Dish)  belonging 
to  Gt.  Staughton  Church,  having  the  inscription  in  Latin  to  this  effect :  "  These 
were  presented  to  the  Church  by  the  Revd.  Christopher  Walters  in  1753  in  memory 
of  his  wife  Sophia,  who  died  at  the  early  age  of  36."  Christopher  Walters  died  in 
1752,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  property  by  Arthur  Walters  to  whom  he  left  it, 

Arthur  Walters  had  a  daughter  Anne  who  married  her  cousin,  Arthur  Walters,  a 
Captain  in  the  Royal  Navy.  Captain  Arthur  Walters  was  the  son  of  the  Revd. 
Richard  Walters,  Chaplain  H.M.  S.  Centurion,  the  ship  in  which  Lord  Anson  made 
his  voyage  round  the  world. 

In  the  Chancel  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church  there  is  a  brass  on  the  South  wall  to  the 
memory  of  this  Revd.  Richard  Walters,  bearing  the  following  inscription':  "This 
brass  is  dedicated  by  his  descendants  to  the  memory  of  the  Revd.  Richard  Walters, 
M.A.,  some  time  Fellow  of  Sidney  Sussex  College  Cambridge,  Chaplain  of  Ports- 
mouth Dockyard  (1745-1785),  Chaplain  of  H.M.  S.  Centurionm  Commodore  Anson's 
Expedition,  and  author  of  the  well-known  '  Voyage  Round  the  World.'  "  He  died 
the  lOtti  March  1785  aged  67,  and  was  buried  in  this  Church.  The  Manor  at  that 
time  belonging  to  his  family.  In  the  same  grave  rests  his  wife,  who  died  December 
1813  aged  90. 

Anne  Walters  widow  of  Captain  Arthur  Walters  succeeded  to  the  property  in 
1763.  Ann  Walters  daughter  of  Arthur  succeeded  to  it  in  1766.  In  1780  Arthur 
Walters  and  his  wife  Ann  were  joint  owners.  In  1819  Arthur  Walters  was  sole 
owner.  In  1821  Richard  Walters,  Arthur  Walters,  William  Walters,  Christopher 
Walters  were  joint  owners  till  1823,  when  the  property  was  purchased  by  Sir  James 
Duberly. 

Many  members  of  the  Walters  family  are  buried  in  the  Vault  under  the  Chancel 
of  Gt.  Staughton  Church. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  17 

I  am  indebted  to  the  Revd.  E.  L.  H.  Tew,  Rector  of  Upham,  Bishops  Waltham 
(1899),  grandson  of  the  Revd.  Richard  Walters,  to  whose;  memory  the  brass  in 
Chancel  is  erected,  for  the  above  information  concerning  the  inhabitants  of  Place 
House  since  the  time  of  the  Dyers  family. 

Richard  Walters,  apparently  grandson  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Walters,  of  H.M.  S. 
Centurion,  served  in  H.M.  S.  Leviathan  at  the  Battle  of  Trafalgar,  was  afterwards 
ordained  and  died  Vicar  of  Woodford,  Xorthants.,  in  1851. 

In  1823  the  property  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Duberly  family,  who  then 
"became  Lords  of  the  Manor  of  Beachampstead.  But  Place  House  was  not  inhabited 
by  them. 

From  1823  to  1844  the  Revd.  W.  C.  Ridley,  Curate  of  Gt,  Staughton  during  the 
incumbency  of  the  Vicars  Clare  and  Mead,  was  tenant  of  Place  House.  Since  his 
time  it  has  been  used  as  a  Farm  House. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Rectory  Manor.     Staughton  House.     The  Baldwins.     The  Conyers. 
Ludlows.     Onslows.     Cunliffes.     The  Baldwin  and  Conyers  Monuments. 


r^TSHOP  Stubbs  says  that  a  small  estate  was  sometimes  given  by  the  Lord  of 
*  l^  the  Manor,  in  addition  to  the  tithes,  as  an  endowment  of  the  parish  in 
which  the  Manor  was  situate.  This  estate  would  thus  become  a  sub- 
manor  and  be  called  the  Rectory  Manor.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  that  house, 
commonly  called  Staughton  House,  a  comparatively  modern  building  near  the 
Church,  and  to  which  there  is  a  private  pathway  from  the  Churchyard,  stands  on 
the  site  of  the  Old  Rectory,  and  that  the  land  attached  to  it  is  the  Rectory  Manor  of 
Gt.  Staughton. 

The  Farm  House  attached  to  Staughton  House  now  called  the  Rectory  Farm  is 
the  Old  Vicarage.  This  was  found  to  be  in  ruins  when  the  Rev.  James  Pope  in  1796 
was  appointed  to  the  living  of  Gt.  Staughton,  and  was  by  him  almost  entirely  re- 
built. 

When  the  Revd.  H.  B.  Wilson  became  Vicar  in  1850  he  built  a  New  Vicarage — 
the  present  one,  and  by  exchange  of  land  the  Old  Vicarage  became  the  property  of 
the  owner  of  Staughton  House,  and  is  as  we  have  said  now  called  the  Rectory  Farm 
—once  it  was  called  the  Hermitage. 

Staughton  House  then  or  the  dwelling  on  that  spot  would  once  have  been  the 
residence  of  the  Rectors  of  Gt.  Staughton.  For  Rectors  they  were  at  first  called  as 
was  the  case  at  first  with  all  incumbencies.  But  after  the  living  of  Gt.  Staughton  at 
the  end  of  the  14th  century  had  been  appropriated  to  the  endowment  of  the 
Carthusian  house  in  London,  that  religious  house  became  Rector  of  Gt. 
Staughton,  and  the  deputy  they  sent  to  take  charge  of  the  Parish  was  called  Vicar. 
The  Rectory  House  would  then  probably  be  let  to  the  tenant  who  farmed  the  Rectory 
Manor,  and  the  Vicar  would  live  in  another  house,  in  that  building  which  was  at 
one  time  called  the  Hermitage.  Who  these  persons  were  who  at  that  time  lived  at 
Staughton  House  we  do  not  know.  But  the  name  of  the  family  who  were  living 
there  at  the  time  that  Oliver  Leder  came  to  live  at  Place  House  (1539)  was  Baldwin. 
The  wife  of  Oliver  Leder  was  Frances  Baldwin,  and  she  was  niece  of  Thomas 
Baldwin  who  was  at  that  time  living  at  Staughton  House. 

In  the  Heralds'  visitation  of  Huntingdonshire  (1613)  we  have  the  pedigree  of  the 
Baldwins,  and  they  appear  to  have  come  from  Southampton. 


"THE     DYERS     MONUMENT," 

FROM    A    PHOTOCRAPH    BY    MR.     LADDS,    A.R.I. 


TO    FACE    PACE    XIX. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON,  19 

1. — Thomas  Baldwin,  of  Staughton  House,  was  the  son  of  John  Baldwin  and 
Ann  Godfrey,  of  Southampton.  He  married  Agatha  Greenland  and  died  in 
1568,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  property  by  his  son  John. 

2. — John  Baldwin  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  Thomas  Mackworth,  and  died 
in  1611,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Thomas. 

3. — Thomas  Baldwin  married  Judith,  daughter  of  Thomas  Haines,  of  Bedford. 
He  was  High  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Huntingdon  in  1613.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  John. 

4. —  John  Baldwin  was  10  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  Heralds'  Visitation.  He 
married  Ann,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Oliver  Cromwell  (the  friend  of  Sir  George 
Wauton)  at  Ramsey  in  1627.  It  was  in  the  time  of  this  John  Baldwin,  viz., 
in  1631,  that  the  Rectory  and  Rectory  Manor,  which  the  Baldwins  had 
inherited  from  Frances  Leder,  was  sold  to  Viscountess  Campden. 

The  Patronage  of  the  Living,  which  had  previously  (i.e.,  since  the  time  of  the 
Leders)  been  in  the  Baldwin  family,  then  passed  to  Viscountess  Campden. 

John  died  in  1657.  His  wife  survived  him  for  many  years  and  died  in  1667. 
They  both  were  buried  in  the  Chancel  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church.  There  are 
memorial  stones  with  inscriptions  over  the  bodies  of  John  and  Ann  Baldwin.  They 
are  to  be  found  on  the  floor  of  the  Chancel  within  the  Sanctuary  rails.  Thus  there 
were  four  generations  of  Baldwins  in  Gt.  Staughton,  viz. :— From  the  beginning  of 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth  to  the  fourth  year  of  Charles  II,  i.e.,  during  100  years  of  a 
most  eventful  history  both  of  Church  and  Nation. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  those  who  were  Vicars  of  Gt.  Staughton  during 
this  period  :  John  Fawcon,  Thomas  Heron,  Gervase  Walker,  Randulph  Eaton, 
Nathaniel  Lawrence,  John  Gaule. 

Valentine  Wauton,  of  Staughton  Manor,  and  John  Baldwin,  of  Staughton  House, 
were  both  allied  to  the  house  of  the  Protector,  and  both  belonged  to  the  Parlia- 
mentary Party,  as  also  did  John  Gaule,  the  Vicar.  It  was  John  Gaule  who  wrote 
inscriptions  over  the  graves  of  John  and  Ann  Baldwin.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
the  Latin  inscription  over  the  grave  of  John  Baldwin  : 

"Hie  (heu  nimis  cito)  situs  est  Johannis  Baldwin, 

Armiger,  Vir  eximius,  siquidem  bene  multum 

Literatus,  Moratus,  Pius,  Justus,  Sincerus  benign  us 

Amicus,  natus  Anno  58  November  12. 

Anno  Domini  1657  denatus. ' 

0  quam  feliciter  sibi,  prout  infeliciter  suis, 


20  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

Cujus  tam  mortalis,  quamquam  morientis  hoec. 

Vox  (sub  spe)  adhuc  loquitir  Resurgam, 

O  fidei  infractas  vocem,  non  ipsi  resurges  solum 

Regnatis.     Corona  Manet.     I.M.P. 

I.G.  Ecclesia?  Stausrhtoniensis  Minister. 


[translation  of  the  above.] 
"  Here  is  laid  (alas  too  soon)  the  Body  of 
John  Baldwyn,  Gentleman, 
A  man  distinguished,  if  to  be 
Well  Read,  Cultivated,  Pious,  Just,  Sincere, 
A  kind  friend,  be  so." 
"  He  died  aged  58,  Nov.  12th,  A.D." 
How  happily  for  himself,  for  his  friends  how  sad,  of  this  one,  though  Dead,  his 
dying  utterance  in  hope  yet  speaks,  I  shall  rise  again." 
"  0  utterance  of  Faith  unfailing 
Thou  shalt  not  only  rise  but  reign, 
For  Thee  a  crown  remains.'' 
I.M.P. 
J.G.  Minister  of  Staughton  Church. 

The  following  is  an  English  Inscription  : 

"  Brave  confidence  !  when,  crumbling  into  Dust, 
Is  but  a  stripping,  and  to  rise  is  trust, 
Thus  a  strong  faith  can  ever  from  faith  retrieve 
And  make  the  grave  abound  him  up  alive, 
What  shall  we  first  deplore,  thy  brain  or  breast, 
Those  that  were  both  the  wisest  and  the  best, 
A  Prince  in  the  Schools,  King  Edgar  in  the  arts 
That  did  unite  their  heptarchy,  and  parts 
As  only,  who  have  such,  can  comprehend, 
The  standard  measure  both  of  man  and  Friend." 

Mrs.  Baldwyn  was  buried  near  her  husband.      She  died  April  13,  1663,  aged  60. 

N.B. — With  regard  to  date  of  her  death  two  or  three  different  dates  are  given. 

To  her  memory  is  laid  down  a  flat  stone  with  this  inscription  : 
Hie  jacet  anna  pia,  prudens  ipsa  anna  Johannis 
Baldwini  solo  nomine  gaudet  eo, 
In  multis  vidua?  non  absimilis  fuit  anna 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


Obtulit  in  vivis  nocte  dieque  preces 

Expectans  Dominum,  simul  expectantibus  ilium. 

Jam  loquitur  satis  est,  ca?tera  quid  memorem. 

[translation  ] 
Here  Anna  lies,  both  prudent  and  devout 
John  Baldwin's  happy  wife  and  widow  true. 
To  Saintly  widowed  Anna  not  unlike 
In  her  devotion  constant  day  and  night 
She  waited  for  her  Lord,  in  death  she  speaks 
To  all  who  for  redemption  seek  in  Christ, 
It  is  enough,  what  more  need  1  recall  ? 


On  a  flat  white  stone  near  there  is  this  inscription  : 

Hosanna,  Hosanna 

Obiit  Anna  Warde,  filia  charissima 

Nicolai  et  Anna3  Warde  die  24  Jan. 

.Etatis  sua?  9th  Dec.  1665. 

Anna  Warde  the  beloved  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Ann  Warde  died  Jan.  24th  A.D. 

1665  (J  years  of  age. 
From  these  two  last  inscriptions  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Mrs.  Baldwyn 
had.  an  only  child  Jane  wrho  married  Mr.  Nicholas  Ward,  who  had  two  daughters  : 
Ann  who   died   a   child,   and    Jane  who  survived  her  grandmother,  Sir  Oliver's 
daughter. 

From  M.S.  endorsed  Cotton  and  —    —we  learn  as  follows  : 

In  the  Chancel  of  Great  Staughton  was  another  gravestone  inscribed — 

Hie  jacet  Robertus  Baldwin  armiger 

Qui  obiit  20  die  Maii  1678,  setatis  sua-  76. 

Principis  et  amici  amator  et  omnibus  Justus. 

Here  lies  Robert  Baldwin,  Gentleman 

Who  died  20th  day  of  May  1678,  76  years  of  age. 

Of  his  Prince  and  his  friend  a  Lover  and  to  all  persons  Just. 

After  the  death  of  John  Baldwyn  the  family  of  the  Conyers  came  to  reside  at 
Staughton  House.  John  Conyers  (afterwards  Sir  John  Conyers,  Bart.)  married  at 
Newton  Bromswold,  Mary  Newman  in  1675  ;  and  she  we  are  told  brought  to  her 
husband  the  estate  of  the  Baldwyns.  She  was  therefore  the  heiress  of  the  Baldwyns 
of  Staughton  House,  and  this  would  be  the  reason  why  the  Conyers  came  to  live 
there. 


22  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

It  is  not  clear  what  the  relation  was  between  the  Baldwyns  and  the  Newmans, 
but  it  is  supposed  with  much  probability  that  a  Miss  Elizabeth  Baldwyn  married  a 
Mr.  Newman,  and  had  one  daughter  Mary— who  became  the  wife  of  John  Conyers. 
The  family  of  the  Conyers  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  in  the  Kingdom. 

We  learn  from  Burke's  "Extinct  Baronetages,"  that  Roger  de  Coigniers  was 
constable  of  Durham  about  1095,  and  that  it  is  from  him  that  the  family  is  derived, 
and  we  can  trace  it  through  centuries  till  Ave  come  to  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  when 
we  find  a  John  Conyers  made  a  Baronet  by  that  King  July  14th,  1618.  It  was  a 
grandson  of  this  Sir  John  Conyers  who  married  Mary  Newman  in  1675  and  received 
through  her  the  Baldwyn  Estate  and  came  to  reside  at  Great  Staughton. 

John  Conyers  succeeded  to  the  Baronetcy  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1692. 
He  died  in  1719,  aged  75.     His  wife  died  Oct.  24th,  1714,  aged  67. 

There  are  several  mural  tablets  to  the  Conyers  family  on  the  wall  of  the 
Chancel  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church.  The  following  is  an  inscription  in  memory  of 
the  above  Sir  John  and  Lady  Conyers  : 

Ab  hoc 

Haud  procul  Marmore 

Juxta  charissima?  suse  conjugis,  cineres  suos  etiam  conquiescere  voluit. 

Johannes  Conyers  Baronettus 

Ex  antiqua  illius  nominis  prosapia 

De  Horden  in  com  :  Dunelmensi  Oriundus. 

Yir  tanto  morum  candore,  ingenii  suavitate  utnon  facile  invenie  parem  ; 

Qui  cum  optimi  patris  familias  et  fidelissimi  subditi 
Ardua  profecto  munera  feliciter  obiisset  viridi  tandem  senecta  expiravit 
14th  Sept :  A.D.  1719, 
iEtat :  suae  75. 
Juxta  Latus  e  dextra  Jacet. 
Maria  Uxor  ejus  dilectissima 
Mulier  tanto  quidem  vero  non  indigna 
Sive  Conjugem,  sive  martem  spectes  pari  pietatis  affectu 
honoranda 
Obiit  24th  Oct  :  A.D.  1714 
iEtat :  suae  67. 


[translation.] 

From  this  marble  tablet  not  far  off, 

Beside  the  remains  of  his  dearest  wife 

John  Convers,  Baronet,  wished 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  23 

that  his  own  should  rest. 
From  an  ancient  family  of  that  name 
Of  Horden  in  the  county  of  Durham 
Sprung 
A  man  of  such  sincerity  of  character  and  sweetness  of  disposition 
That  you  would  not  easily  find  his  like. 
One  who  after  he  had  discharged  most  felicitously  the  arduous  duties  of  an  excellent 
Father  of  a  family  and  a  most  faithful  subject, 
at  length  in  a  green  old  age  expired 
The  14th  of  September  A.D.  1719 
aged  75. 
By  his  side  on  the  right  hand  lies 

Mary  his  most  beloved  wife 

A  woman  not  unworthy  of  so  great  a  man, 

Whether  you  regard  her  as  wife  or  mother, 

With  like  pious  affection 

Deserving  to  be  honoured. 

She  died  the  24th  of  October  A.D.  1714 

67  years  of  age. 

Beside  these  mural  tablets  there  are  these  inscriptions  on  the  pavement : — 

1.— Here  lieth  the  body  of  Mary  Conyers,  daughter  of  John  Conyers  and  Mary 

his  wife,  who  died  the  17th  of  October,  1678. 
2. — Here  lyes  Edward  Conyers,  fifth  son  of  Sir  John  Conyers,  of  Horden  in  the 
County  of  Durham,  Baronet,  and  of  Dame  Mary  his  wife.  In  certain  hope 
that  the  Blessed  Vision  of  the  Eternal  God,  through  the  sole  merit  of  his 
all  sufficient  Saviour  Jesus.  He  dyed  entirely  resigned,  the  21st  day  of 
June  1705,  aged  21  years  and  17  days,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  parents. 

There  is  also  another  tablet  with  this  inscription  : — 

"  Here  lye  the  bodies  of  Christopher  and  Mary  Conyers,  sonne  and  daughter  of 
John  Conyers,  Esq.,  and  Mary  his  wife,  both  dying  in  their  infancy." 

Sir  Baldwyn  died  in  1731,  and  leaving  only  daughters,  the  title  passed  to  a 
cousin,  Sir  Ralph  Conyers  of  Chester. 

Margaret  the  2nd  wife  of  Sir  Baldwin  Conyers  died  and  was  buried  in  Gt. 
-Staughton  1758. 

The  ninth  and  last  baronet  Sir  Thomas  Conyers  died  in  1810. 

It  is  said  that  this  last    baronet  was  reduced  to  abject  poverty.     Not  through  any 


24  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

fault  of  his  own  but  through  the  reckless  squandering  of  the  fortune,  by  which  the 
dignity  of  the  position  might  have  been  kept  up,  by  the  nephew  whom  Sir  Thomas 
succeeded.  It  is  said  that  his  daughters  married  labouring  men,  and  that  he  him- 
self in  his  last  illness  was  taken  to  the  workhouse  in  Chester  le  Street,  where  he 
died.  But  it  appears  that  he  did  not  actually  die  there,  for  a  benevolent  Antiquarian 
of  Durham  raised  a  subscription  for  him,  and  had  him  removed  to  comfortable 
lodgings  where  he  died  shortly  afterwards. 

There  are  many  entries  in  the  Registers  of  the  Baptisms  and  Burials  of  members 
of  the  Conyers  family.  One  entry  seems  to  have  been  made  by  Sir  John  Conyers 
himself,  though  there  is  no  signature,     It  is  as  follows  : 

'"  Edward  Conyers  my  fifth  son  was  born  first  of  June  1684  and  was  baptized 
the  17th," 
That  is  the  son  concerning  whom  we  learn  from  the  memorial  inscription  that  he 
died  aged  21  to  the  great  grief  of  his  parents. 

Then  there  is  another  remarkable  entry  as  follows  : 
"Memorand  :    That  Sir  John  Conyers,  Baronet,  received  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the 
Parish  Church  of  Great  Staughton  on  the  fourth  day  of  September  1715" 
Witness  our  hands 

Thos.  Pickering,  Vicar.     Elizabeth  Pickering.     Simon  Jeakins,  Parish  Clerk. 
Similar  entries  appear  on  March  25th  1717,  also  in  April  and  December  1717, 
and  again  in  1718  with  regard  to  Sir  Baldwyn  Conyers,  thus — 

"  Sir  Baldwin  Conyers  received  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  Good 
Friday,  7th  day  of  April,  and  Easter  Sunday  the  9th  day  of  April  1720." 
This  is  witnessed  by  John  Robinson,  Curate.  The  reason  of  these  entries,  which 
do  not  occur  with  regard  to  anyone  else  in  the  registers  may  presumably  be  because 
the  family  were  suspected  by  the  Government  of  being  Papists  and  Jacobites, 
especially  when  we  notice  that  1715  (the  year  of  the  rising  under  the  Pretender)  was 
the  year  in  which  these  entries  were  first  made. 

What  the  sympathies  of  the  family  were  may  be  guessed  from  the  fact  that  Sir 
Baldwin  Conyers  had  one  of  his  daughters  christened  Henrietta  Maria,  and  from 
Burke's  "  Extinct  Baronetages  "  we  learn  that  two  of  his  daughters  were  nuns. 

There  is  a  monument  in  the  Chancel  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Baldwyn  Conyers  and 
of  his  wife  and  of  his  only  son  who  died  young,  as  follows  : 

"  This  monument  is  erected  in  memory  of  Sir  Baldwyn  Conyers  Bart,  and  his 
son  who  both  lie  interred  in  this  Chancel.  Sir  Baldwyn  died  the  17th  of 
April  1731,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age." 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  25 

"  John  Conyers  Esqre.  his  only  son  died  the  4th  of  Sept :  1729,  in  the  nine- 
teenth year  of  his  age,  a  young  gentleman  of  fine  parts,  and  whose  death 
was  lamented  by  all  that  knew  him." 
"  Here  lies  also  interred  Dame  Mary  Conyers  Bart,  who  died  Jan  :  10th  1758." 

We  find  from  the  Records  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  that  in  1726  when  Sir 
Baldwyn  Conyers  was  at  Staughton  House,  the  Lordship  of  the  Rectory  Manor,  with 
the  consent  of  St.  John's  College  and  the  Vicar  of  Great  Staughton  (at  that  time  the 
Revd.  Dr.  Giles)  was  made  over  to  Sir  Baldwyn  Conyers  on  condition  of  his  paying 
£20  per  annum  to  the  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton.  This  payment  is  still  made  to  the 
Vicar ;  and  the  owners  of  Staughton  House  are  Lords  of  the  Rectory  Manor,  though 
St.  John's  College  is  still  patron  of  the  living,  that  is,  has  the  advowson  or  right  to 
nominate  to  the  living. 

Frances  Leder  died  in  1558,  and  the  last  John  Baldwin  in  1657,  so  that  Staughton 
House,  as  far  as  our  records  extend,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Baldwyn  family  for  99 
years. 

Then  next  Sir  John  Conyers  came  into  residence  in  1657,  and  Sir  Baldwyn  Con- 
yers, the  son  of  Sir  John,  died  in  1731,  leaving  no  heir,  thus  the  Conyers  family 
were  in  possession  for  74  years. 

The  next  tenant  of  the  house  was  Lord  Ludlow,  a  descendant  of  General  Ludlow 
the  Republican  General,  who,  like  Valentine  Wanton,  was  one  of  the  Judges  of 
Charles  I,  and  signed  the  warrant  for  his  death.  Lord  LudloAv's  name  appears  in 
the  Vicar's  account  books  making  the  same  payments  to  the  Vicar  as  the  Conyers 
did  as  tenants  of  Staughton  House. 

After  him  the  name  of  Mr.  Parker  appears  in  the  Vicar's  books.  He  must  have 
been  a  temporary  tenant  only  for  two  or  three  years,  for  after  him  comes  the  name 
of  Lord  Preston,  which  was  another  title  of  Lord  Ludlow.  The  first  Lord  Ludlow 
died  in  1803.  The  second  in  Nov.,  1811.  He  threw  aside  the  title  of  Lord  Preston 
and  was  known  only  as  Lord  Ludlow.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  only  brother  who 
died  in  1843,  aged  83.  The  family  appears  to  have  left  Staughton  about  1805,  and 
gone  to  Cople  House,  Bedford. 

The  Ludlows  were  succeeded  by  General  Denzil  Onslow,  descended  from  Sir 
Henry  Onslow  (Knight)  of  Drungewick  in  Sussex,  who  was  the  son  of  Sir  Richard 
Onslow  who  served  in  three  Parliaments  for  the  County  of  Surrey.  He  was  one  of 
those  who  made  a  very  remarkable  speech  to  the  Protector  Oliver  Cromwell,  urging 
him  to  take  the  title  of  King.  He  however  afterwards  contributed  to  the  restoration 
of  the  exiled  Monarch,  Charles  II.  General  Onslow  came  to  Staughton  House  in 
1809.     He  died  in  1838  suddenly  when  on  a  visit  to  Huntingdon,  and  was  succeeded 


26  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

by  his  son  Denzil,  who  died  single  in  1878.  Miss  Maria  Onslow,  one  of  General 
Onslow's  numerous  family,  on  her  brother's  death  inherited  the  property,  and  lived 
in  Staughton  a  few  years  afterwards,  but  in  1879  she  left  Staughton,  and  sold  the 
property  subject  to  the  payment  of  an  annuity  to  herself  for  life.  She  lived  to  a 
great  age  (92)  and  died  in  1907.  Her  cremated  remains  were  brought  to  Staughton 
and  buried  in  Gt.  Staughton  Churchyard. 

Staughton  House  was  sold  to  Mr.  Raffety,  who  only  held  it  for  a  few  years.   Since 

then   it   has  passed   through  several  hands,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  Mr.  H. 

Pickersgill    Cunliife.       His  only   son,    John   R.    Pickersgill   Cunliffe,   of  the  2nd 

Battalion  Grenadier  Guards,  was  killed  in  action  at    the  battle  of  the  Aisne,  aged  19. 

The  following  tablet  to  his  memory  has  been  erected  in  Gt.  Staughton  Church  : 

"  In  loving  memory  of 

John  Reynolds  Pickersgill  Cunliffe, 

2nd  Battalion  Grenadier  Guards, 

Killed  in  Action  at  the 

Battle  of  the  Aisne, 

September  11th,  1914, 

Aged  19, 

Only  Son  of 

Harry  and  Arlette  Pickersgill  Cunliffe, 

Of  Staughton  Manor." 


CHAPTER    V. 

The  Parish  of  Gt.  Staughton.      The  Conversion  of  England.      The  Scottish 

Mission.       Conversion  of  Peada.       The  Spread  of  Christianity.     Evangelists 

from  thk  King's  Court.     The  Foundation  of  Monastic  Houses. 

The  Origin  of  the  Parish. 


TlOW  was  Christianity  first  introduced  into  Gt.  Staughton?  When  our  Anglo- 
*]  Saxon  forefathers  first  began  to  invade  Britain  what  did  they  find  ?      Not 

"^~?  savages  and  heathens,  but  a  nation  which,  during  the  400  years  of  the 
Roman  occupation,  had  attained  to  a  great  degree  of  civilization,  and  had  received 
the  Christian  Religion.  But  those  savage  pirates,  the  invaders,  had  no  more  con- 
sideration for  the  civilization  or  religion  of  the  natives  than  they  had  for  their  lives, 
and  the  Britons  were  all  ruthlessly  slaughtered,  or  enslaved,  or  driven  into  mountain 
fastnesses  in  the  extreme  West  of  the  country.  With  the  Britons  went  the  British 
Church.  And  there  in  those  remote  districts,  shut  off  from  Christendom,  it  kept 
alive  in  the  British  Nation  the  truths  of  the  Christian  religion,  though  it  never  so 
far  influenced  them  as  to  cause  them  to  make  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  their  hated 
conquerors. 

When  then  Augustine  and  his  party  of  monks,  sent  by  Gregory  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  land  of  the  Angle,  arrived  in  England  they  must  have  found 
the  country  wholly  heathen.  Nevertheless,  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  where  they 
landed,  was  not  wholly  unprepared  for  their  coming  or  for  their  message.  He  had 
married  a  Christian  wife,  Bertha,  a  Frankish  Princess,  and  so  very  readily  gave  per- 
mission to  Augustine  and  his  mission  party  to  settle  in  Canterbury  and  carry  on 
their  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  from  that  centre.  The  result  of  this  was  that 
Ethelbert  himself  was  shortly  converted  and  received  Christian  baptism. 

This  then  is  one  way  in  which  Christianity  was  introduced  into  England  by  the 
coming  of  Augustine  in  the  year  597  into  Kent  and  by  the  conversion  of  Ethelbert, 
the  King.  The  next  kingdom  of  the  Heptarchy  to  receive  the  Gospel  was 
Northumbria.  And  here  too  it  was  brought  to  the  people  through  the  conversion  of 
the  King.  Edwin,  King  of  Northumbria,  had  married  Ethelburga,  the  Christian 
daughter  of  Ethelbert,  and  the  condition  of  his  having  her  as  his  wife  was  that  she 
should  be  allowed  the  free  exercise  of  her  religion.  This  being  conceded,  she  took 
with  her  Paulinus,  one  of  Augustine's  mission,  as  her  Bishop,  and  other  Clergy  to 
preach  the  word  and  minister  the  Sacraments.  And  in  this  case  also  Edwin,  through 
the  influence  of  his  wife  and  the  teaching  of  Paulinus,  was  brought  to  believe  in  the 


28  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

Christian  Religion.  But  before  he  resolved  to  become  a  Christian  he  called  together 
his  wise  men  to  consider  the  desirability  of  doing  so,  and  here  it  will  be  interesting 
to  insert  the  memorable  words  of  one  of  them  on  this  occasion,  as  recorded  by  Bede, 
"  The  present  life  of  man,  0  King,  seems  to  me,  in  comparison  of  that  time,  which 
is  unknown  to  us,  like  to  the  swift  flight  of  a  sparrow  through  the  room,  wherein 
you  sit  at  supper  in  winter  with  your  commanders  and  ministers,  and  a  good  fire  in 
the  midst,  whilst  the  storms  of  rain  and  snow  prevail  abroad  :  the  sparrow,  I  say, 
flying  in  at  one  door,  and  immediately  out  at  another,  whilst  he  is  within,  is  safe 
from  the  wintry  storm,  but  after  a  short  space  of  fair  weather,  he  immediately 
vanishes  out  of  your  sight,  in  the  dark  winter  from  w^hich  he  had  emerged.  So  this 
life  by  man  appears  for  a  short  space,  but  of  what  went  before,  or  what  is  to  follow 
we  are  utterly  ignorant.  If  therefore,  this  new  doctrine  contains  something  more 
certain  it  means  justly  to  deserve  to  be  followed."  The  other  elders  and  King's 
counsellors  by  divine  inspiration  spoke  to  the  same  effect. 

Coifi,  also  the  chief  of  Edwin's  heathen  priests,  said  as  follows  :  "I  have  long 
since  been  sensible  that  there  was  nothing  in  that  which  we  worshipped  ;  because 
the  more  diligently  I  sought  after  truth  in  that  worship,  the  less  I  found  it.  But 
now  I  freely  confess,  that  such  truth  evidently  appears  in  this  preaching  as  can  con- 
fer on  us  the  gifts  of  life,  of  salvation  and  of  eternal  happiness.  For  which  reason  I 
advise  0  King,  that  we  instantly  abjure  and  set  fire  to  those  temples  and  altars 
which  we  have  consecrated  without  reaping  any  benefit  from  them."  Thus  then 
Christianity  was  introduced  into  Northumbria.  But  this  state  of  things  was  not  to 
last  long. 

In  633  after  Edwin  had  reigned  17  years,  he  was  attacked  by  the  united  armies 
of  Penda,  (the  pagan  King  of  Mercia,  the  great  enemy  of  Christianity)  and  of 
Cadwalla,  a  British  King,  who  although  a  Christian  (in  name  at  least)  was  a  great 
enemy  of  the  English.  In  this  battle  the  Northumbrians  were  defeated  and  Edwin 
was  slain,  and  the  whole  country  ravaged  with  great  slaughter  of  the  inhabitants. 
On  this  event  Paulinus  the  Bishop,  taking  with  him  the  Queen  Ethelburga,  escaped 
and  went  by  sea  to  Kent.  Here  he  was  hospitably  received  and  the  see  of  Rochester 
being  vacant  he  was  made  Bishop  of  that  place  and  did  not  return  to  Northumbria. 

On  the  death  of  Edwin,  Osric  and  Eaufred  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
Northumbria— one  being  made  King  of  Bernicia  and  the  other  of  Deira— the  two 
divisions  of  the  Kingdom.  These  two  Kings  were  professedly  Christians  and  had 
been  baptized,  but  as  soon  as  they  had  succeeded  to  the  throne  they  renounced  their 
faith.  But  they  did  not  long  remain  Kings,  for  the  same  year  being  attacked  by 
the  British  King  Cadwalla,  the  same  who  had  slain  Edwin — they  were  both  killed, 
and  he  for  a  short  time  ruled  with  great  cruelty  over  Northumbria. 


HISTORY     OF    GREAT     STAUGHTON.  29 

But  again  Oswald,  the  brother  of  Eaufred,  having  raised  a  great  army  completely 
routed  and  destroyed  the  army  of  Cadwalla.  Cadwalla  was  slain  and  Oswald  be- 
came King.  Oswald  was  a  Christian  and  a  saintly  man,  and  he  desiring  that  the 
Christian  religion  should  once  more  prevail  in  Northumbria,  sent  to  Iona,  where  the 
Scotch-Irish  mission  was  established,  and  asked  them  to  send  him  someone  who 
would  teach  and  preach  to  his  people,  and  they  sent  Aid  an.  Thus  through  King 
Edwin,  and  afterwards  through  King  Oscar,  the  Gospel  was,  as  in  the  case  of  Kent, 
introduced  to  the  people  of  Northumbria. 

And  now  we  have  to  enquire  how  was  the  Gospel  brought  into  that  part  of  the 
country  where  Gt.  Staughton  is  situate.  The  Great  Kingdom  of  Mercia  having  the 
middle  Angles  on  the  South  included,  we  believe,  the  County  of  Huntingdonshire 
and  therefore  Gt.  Staughton. 

Now  Mercia  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  Heptarchy  to  embrace 
Christianity,  because  it  was  ruled  over  by  Penda,  one  who  was  the  most,  obstinate 
opponents  of  Christianity,  and  who  had  been  the  author  of  the  death  of  several 
Christian  Kings.  Nevertheless  it  was  through  Peada,  the  son  of  Penda,  that 
Christianity  was  brought  to  the  people  of  Mercia. 

Peada  was  desirous  of  marrying  Elfleda,  the  Christian  daughter  of  Oswy,  King 
of  Northumbria,  but  he  was  told  that  he  could  not  marry  her  unless  he  became  a 
Christian.  And  after  instruction  had  been  given  to  him  as  to  what  the  Christian 
religion  was,  and  after  he  had  heard  the  preaching  of  the  truth,  and  the  promise  of 
the  Heavenly  Kingdom,  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  and  future  immortality,  declared 
that  he  would  willingly  become  a  Christian,  even  though  he  should  be  refused  the 
virgin,  and  thus  he  was  converted  and  became  a  Christian. 

Bishop  Finan,  who  had  succeeded  Aidan  as  Bishop  of  Northumbria,  baptized 
Peada,  and  ordained  Diuma  to  be  Bishop  of  Mercia  ;^and  he  came  to  Peada  to  give 
instruction  to  his  people  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  Penda  allowed  this  to  take 
place  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom  over  which  Peada,  his  son,  was  King  under  him. 
Peada  was  converted  in  653,  his  father,  Penda,  died  in  655,  and  then  the  Christian 
religion  spread  through  the  whole  of  Mercia.  This  is  the  way  probably  in  which 
the  Gospel  came  into  parts  of  the  country  where  Staughton  now  is. 

It  began  at  the  King's  Court,  but  afterwards  *  "  The  Court  of  the  King  became 
the  centre  from  which  a  small  army  of  Missioners  and  Evangelists  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Bishop  were  engaged  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  around,  in 
bringing  it  into  their  homes  by  pastoral  visitations,   in  sedulously  carrying  on  the 

*Jessop's  Id.  History  o1  English  Case. 


30  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

work  of  Christian  education,  and  above  all  by  shewing  an  example  of  a  higher  level 
of  endeavour  after  a  greater  holiness  of  life  than  was  at  that  time  believed  to  be 
attainable  by  busy  men  living  and  labouring  in  loneliness  and  isolation." 

But  there  was  another  means  by  which  the  Christian  religion  was  diffused 
among  the  Pagan  villages,  and  that  was  by  means  of  the  Monastic  Houses  established 
in  their  neighbourhood.  And  this  would  be  especially  the  case  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Gt.  Staughton,  where  there  was  so  much  Fenland  around.  For  it  was  to 
such  places  that  religious  persons  retired,  that  they  might  use  the  solitude  for  the 
purpose  of  especially  devoting  themselves  to  prayer,  meditation,  study  and  manual 
work.  Sometimes  one  in  a  high  position,  who  had  spent  his  life  in  violence  and 
crime,  had  had  brought  home  to  him  in  some  quiet  moment  of  thought  the  con- 
viction of  the  truth  of  Christ's  religion  and  the  awful  wickedness  of  his  own  life, 
and  in  the  first  fervor  of  religious  emotion  resolved  to  leave  his  life  of  sin,  to  forsake 
his  worldly  possessions  and  his  high  rank,  and  to  go  into  some  place  of  complete 
solitude,  such  as  might  be  found  in  Fenland  or  Forest  or  Desert,  and  there  devote 
himself  entirely  to  communion  with  his  God,  saving  for  such  time  as  was  required 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  around  him  for  his  own  subsistence.  But  when  any 
one  in  circumstances  like  this  had  given  proof  of  his  repentance  and  his  faith  in 
God  by  renouncing  all  that  the  world  in  general  values,  and  by  retiring  from  all 
that  makes  for  comfort  in  civilized  social  life,  the  fame  of  his  sain tliness  soon  spread, 
and  numbers  hastened  to  do  as  he  had  done,  and  so  the  solitude  became  a  solitude 
no  longer,  and  the  solitary  one  found  himself  surrounded  by  numbers  who  had  followed 
him  to  his  place  of  retirement,  and  then  the  idea  sprang  up  that  they  should  unite 
to  live  in  community  though  the  life  was  still  to  be  one  of  self  denial  and  prayer  and 
devotion  to  God.  And  thus  arose  the  monastic  life,  and  the  monastery  became  the 
Home  of  religion  and  learning  in  the  desert  place.  And  these  monasteries  became 
centres  of  civilization,  retreats  to  which  in  those  days  of  violence  and  war,  those  who 
wished  to  live  Christian  lives  and  lives  of  quiet  industry  flocked  in  numbers. 
Agricultural  Colonies  in  the  depths  of  vast  woodlands  were  thus  established  and  by 
a  chain  of  religious  houses  they  made  their  way  step  by  step  into  the  heart  of  the 
Fens. 

In  Green's  Making  of  England  we  read  "  Wilder  even  than  the  western  wood- 
land was  the  desolate  Fen  country  in  the  eastern  border  of  the  kingdom  which 
stretched  from  the  '  Holland '  or  the  sunk  hollow  land  of  Lincolnshire  to  the  channel 
of  the  Ouse,  a  wilderness  of  shallow  waters  and  reedy  islets,  wrapt  in  its  own  dark 
mist-veil  and  tenanted  only  by  flocks  of  screaming  wild  fowl. 

Here  through  the  liberality  of  King  Wulfhere  rose  on  the  western  border  of  the 
great  Morass  the  Abbey  of  Medeshampsted,  a  community  which  grew  in  after  time 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


into  our  Peterboro'.  On  its  northern  edge  an  obscure  hermit,  Botolph,  founded  a  little 
house  which  as  ages  went  by  became  our  Botolph's  town  or  Boston.  Further  in  the 
Fen  itself  the  Queen  of  Ecgfrith,  Aethelreda,  found  a  refuge  from  her  husband  on  the 
low  rise  amidst  its  waters,  which  is  crowned  nowadays  with  the  noble  Minster  of  Ely. 

It  was  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Fen  that  Guthlac,  a  youth  of  the  Royal  race  of 
Mercia,  sought  a  refuge  from  the  world  in  the  solitude  of  Crowland.  The  early  life 
of  Guthlac  marks  the  wild  barbarism  of  the  times.  He  spent  it  after  the  fashion  of 
young  warriors,  in  private  feuds,  in  sacking  and  burning  town  and  homestead,  and 
carrying  off  booty  from  his  foes.  Suddenly  as  he  lay  sleepless  in  the  forest  among 
his  sleeping  war  band  there  rose  before  him  the  thought  of  his  crimes  and  of  the 
doom  that  awaited  him.  Such  thoughts  were  stirred  in  many  hearts  no  doubt  by 
the  new  Christian  faith  ;  but  in  none  did  they  find  a  quicker  answer.  The  birds 
waking  with  dawn  only  roused  his  comrades  to  hear  Guthlac's  farewell.  At  the 
Abbey  of  Repton,  the  burying  place  as  yet  of  the  Royal  line  of  Mercia,  he  shore  oft 
the  long  hair  which  marked  the  noble,  and  moved  by  the  life  of  hermit  saints  which 

he  read  there  betook  himself  to  the  heart  of  the  Fen But  it  was 

harder  than  Guthlac  fancied  to  escape  the  converse  of  men.  His  solitude  was  broken 
by  crowds  of  devotees,  by  Abbot  and  monk,  by  thegn  and  ceorl  as  they  flocked  over 
the  Fen  to  the  solitary's  cell ;  and  so  great  was  the  reverence  which  he  won  that  two 
years  after  his  death  the  stately  Abbey  of  Crowland  was  raised  over  his  tomb.1'  This 
extract  may  serve  to  show  how  the  monastic  institutions  spread  over  the  country, 
especially  over  the  fen  country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gt.  Staughton. 

The  Monasteries  then  were  another  means  by  which  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
religion  were  propagated  amongst  the  pagan  villagers.  Besides  the  missionaries  that 
went  forth  from  the  seat  of  the  Bishopric  at  the  King's  Court,  we  learn  that  the 
monks  went  long  distances  to  preach  and  to  read  the  Bible  to  the  people  in  the 
villages  round.  Christianity  we  may  venture  to  conclude  was  introduced  into  this 
neighbourhood  in  the  middle  of  the  7th  century. 

Penda  the  great  obstacle  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  this  part  died  in 
655.  His  son  who  succeeded  him  as  King  of  Mercia  was  a  Christian,  and  so  would 
promote  it  in  his  kingdom,  whether  it  came  to  Staughton  as  early  as  this  we  cannot 
tell,  but  it  may  have  done.  The  see  of  Lichfield,  which  included  Mercia,  was 
established  in  656. 

In  the  present  day  we  find  the  whole  country  divided  up  into  separate  parishes, 
and  each  parish  has  its  parish  priest.  This  system  goes  back  to  remote  ages,  and 
its  beginning  cannot  be  traced  to  any  particular  time.  It  has  been  supposed  it  was 
instituted  by  Abp.  Theodore  (who  was  Abp.  of  Canterbury  in  the  middle  of  the  7th 
century)  but  historians  tell  us  it  was  not  so. 

The  mapping  out  of  the  whole  country  into  districts  called  parishes  has  been  a 


32  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 

matter  of  gradual  growth.  It  is  probable  that  in  the  first  instance  many  nobles  or 
wealthy  persons,  dwelling  at  a  great  distance  from  the  Bishop's  central  church, 
desired  the  Bishop  to  detach  one  of  the  clergy  of  his  mission  to  come  to  reside  on 
their  land,  in  order  that  the  priest  might  minister  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  their 
tenants  and  dependents,  and  this  became  a  fixed  institution  in  many  cases,  but  the 
probability  is  that  the  particular  district  assigned  to  different  clergy  was  assigned 
to  them  by  the  Bishop  himself  according  as  different  districts  were  gradually 
evangelised  throughout  the  portion  of  country  assigned  to  their  care  ;  and  this 
might  have  sprung  out  of  Archbishop  Theodore's  reorganization  of  the  huge  dioceses 
that  existed  in  England  when  he  became  Archbishop  ;  which  reorganization  he 
effected  by  dividing  the  Bishoprics  and  increasing  the  number  of  Bishops.  The 
dioceses  thus  became  of  a  more  manageable  size,  and  the  Bishop  of  each  was  able 
better  to  supervise  and  to  provide  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  particular  parts. 

The  word  parish  may  itself  suggest  the  origin  of  parishes.  The  word  "  parish  " 
is  derived  through  the  Latin  parochia  from  the  Greek  paroikia  meaning  district, 
and  the  word  paroikia  was  the  word  applied  to  the  district  assigned  to  the  Bishop, 
which  was  afterwards  called  his  diocese.  The  whole  diocese  was  the  Bishop's 
district  or  parish,  and  when  he  was  living  in  a  town  the  whole  of  it  appertained  to 
his  spiritual  supervision,  and  the  clergy  who  had  the  charge  of  different  parts  of  the 
town  had  them  as  his  deputies,  and  so  for  outlying  parts  at  a  distance  from  the 
Bishop,  which  he  could  not  serve  personally,  he  assigned  clergy,  and  this  charge  in 
course  of  time  became  permanent,  and  the  parish  became  the  priest's  freehold.  But 
the  power  was  assigned  to  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  (who  possibly  contributed  largely 
to  the  endowment)  of  nominating  the  priest  to  the  parish,  though  the  spiritual 
authority  was  derived  from  the  Bishop. 

The  parish  did  not  coincide  in  extent  with  the  manor,  or  the  town,  or  the  hamlet. 
In  one  town  there  might  be  several  parishes,  and  in  one  parish  several  manors.  We 
cannot  say  then  at  what  particular  time  Gt.  Staughton  became  a  parish,  and  had  a 
church  and  a  parish  priest  It  may  have  been  from  very  early  times.  But  we  learn 
from  domesday  book  that  there  was  at  that  time  a  priest  and  a  church  at  Staughton. 
The  division  of  the  country  into  parishes  was  not  complete  till  the  12th  century. 

The  Parish  Priest  from  being  the  religious  ruler  of  the  parish  was  called  the 
Rector  (ruler),  and  as  being  the  representative  of  the  parish  was  called  also  the 
Parson  or  Person  of  the  parish,  The  designation  of  Parson  thus  strictly  belongs  to 
the  Rector  only. 

When  the  Rectorial  Tithes  of  the  parish  were  assigned  to  some  religious  house 
as  an  endowment,  or  to  some  lay  impropriator,  that  corporation  or  layman  became 
the  Rector,  and  the  priest  appointed  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  parish  was  called 
the  Vicar  (deputy;. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

Patronage  of  the  Living.     List  of  Rectors  and  Vicars.      Some  Account  of 
them  until  the  end  of  incumbency  of  j.  gaule  (1261-1687). 


■  HE  Abbots  of  Ramsey  appear  to  have  been  the  original  owners  of  the  Manor 
g*-  of  Gt.  Stanghton  and  patrons  of  the  Living,  and  after  them  the  Lords  of  the 
Manor  resident  at  Gt.  Staughton.  In  1383,  with  the  consent  of  the  Pope  and  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  (in  whose  diocese  the  parish  then  was)  and  also  with  the  consent 
of  the  then  patron  the  Lord  of  the  Manor,  the  Rectory  and  the  Rectory  Manor  were 
made  over  to  the  Monastery  of  the  Carthusians  in  London  as  an  endowment.  The 
Monastery  thus  became  both  Patron  and  Rector  of  the  Living. 

In  1539,  when  the  greater  Monasteries  were  suppressed,  the  Rectory  of  Gt. 
Staughton  and  the  Rectory  Manor  were  purchased  from  Henry  VIII  by  Olyver  Leder 
and  Frances  his  wife,  and  they  thus  became  patrons  of  the  living.  On  the  death  of 
Frances  Leder,  her  husband  Oliver  Leder  having  died  before  her,  the  living  went  to 
Thomas  Baldwin  her  uncle,  and  he  then  became  patron,  he  was  succeeded  in  the 
property  by  his  son  John  and  he  again  by  his  son  Thomas.  By  this  second  Thomas 
Baldwin  the  living  was  sold  to  Viscountess  Campden,  who  exercised  her  patronage 
by  presenting  John  Gaule  to  the  Vicarage.  Then  she  gave  the  living  to  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  who  in  his  turn  gave  it  to  S.  John's  College,  of  which  he  was  at  one 
time  President,  and  since  that  time  to  the  present  day  the  living  of  Gt.  Staughton 
has  been  in  the  hands  of  S.  John's  College,  Oxford.  We  may  here  insert  extracts 
from  the  letter  which  Archbishop  Laud  wrote  to  the  College  when  he  made  the 
living  over  to  them  : — 

"  The  President  and  Scholars  upon  any  vacancy  shall  present  an  able  man  of 
an  honest,  sober  and  quiet  conversation,  being  a  fellow  of  St.  John's  College, 
Oxford,  aforesaid,  and  of  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  at  least." 
He  also  adds  the  request  that 

"  The  President  and  Fellows  in  their  choice  and  nomination  will  for  his  sake 

at  all  times  have  such  respect  as  shall  be  fitting  to  those  fellows,  which  have  the 

Reading  places,  according  to  their  minds." 

We  here  subjoin  a  list  of  Rectors  and  Vicars  from  the  middle  of  the  13th  century, 

as  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain  them  from  the  Parish  Registers,  the  Vicar's 

Memorandum  Books,  the  Lincoln  Diocesan  Registers,  and  other  documents,  such  as 

the  Registers  of  Probate  of  Wills  at  Huntingdon. 


34 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


List  of  Rectors  and  Vicars  of  Gt.  Staughton,  Hunts. 

• , 

Date  of 
Institution. 

RECTORS. 

NAMES. 

Radulphus 

Date  of  Death, 
Resignation 

or 
Exchange. 

1264 

1264 

Bertram  de  Criol 

John  de  Poute 

r. 

1292 

1292 

Richard  de  Insula 

d. 

1322 

1322 

Radulph  de  Malton 

r. 

1330 

1330 

Peter  Neve  de  Melbourne 

Robert  de  la  Neve 

ex. 

1342 

1342 

Nicholas  de  Coleshill 

ex. 

1348 

1318 

Henry  de  la  More 

d. 

1361 

1361 

William  de  Navesby 

Jacobus  Walsch 

d. 

1368 

1368 

Richard  Parker 

1385 

John  Excester 

ex. 

1391 

1391 

Walter  Amendy  (?) 

VICARS. 

1394  John  Hayle 

1420  John  Teesdale 

Thos.  Paulc 

1446  Thos.  Hunter 

1480  Gerard  Mason 

1502  John  Islington 

1536  Wm.  Reed,  B.C.L.  or  LI.  B. 

1546  Thos.  Hudson 

1551  George  Hunter 

1555  Robt.  Stanley 

1555  Thos  Tysome 

1558  John  Fawcon 

1568  Edward  Robinson 

1572  Robert  Scofield 

1585  Thomas  Wilson 

1586  Thomas  Heron 
1593  Gervase  Walker 
1616  Randulph  Eaton 
1623  Nathaniel  Lawrence 


d. 

1416 

r. 

1480 

d. 

1497 

d. 

1536 

r. 

1546 

d. 

1551 

r. 

1554 

r. 

1555 

d. 

1567 

ex. 

1572 

d. 

1593 

d. 

1623 

1632  or  1637 

HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


35 


Date  of 
Institution. 

1632) 

or     \ 

1637  ) 


John  Gaule 


1667        Richard  Maris,  LL.D. 
1710        Thos.  Pickering 

1720  Winch  Holds  worth 

1721  Thos.  Hayward,  S.T.P. 

1723  Abel  Evans 

1724  John  Gyles,  S.T.B. 
1733        Edward  Owen,  S.T.B. 
1750        Edward  Bridges  Blackett,  LL.D. 
1753        John  Negus,  D.D. 
1786        John  Applebee,  B.D. 
1796        James  Pope,  B.D. 

1822  Thos.  Silver,  LL.D. 

1823  Thos.  Clare,  M.A. 
1830        Thos.  Wynter  Mead,  B.D. 
1850        Henry  Bristow  Wilson,  B.D. 
1888        Thos.  Wm.  Gibson,  MA 
1895        Henry  Geo.  Watson,  M.A. 
1909         C.  McNeil  Rushforth,  M.A. 

Of  the  names  in  the  above  list  those  from  the  year  1540  have  been  ascertained 
chiefly  by  reference  to  the  Parish  Registers.  These  Registers  of  Gt.  Staughton  com- 
mence in  1540.  The  order  that  Registers  should  be  kept  was  to  take  effect  in  the 
year  1538,  and  so  probably  they  did  begin  in  that  year  in  this  parish,  but  those  be- 
tween 1538  and  1540  must  have  been  lost,  for  the  first  page  of  the  Registers  remain- 
ing is  numbered  4  and  is  dated  1540.  We  get  the  names  of  John  Fawcon,  Thomas 
Heron,  Gervase  Walker,  Randulph  Eaton,  Nathaniel  Lawrence  from  the  Registers 
between  1551  and  1623.  Of  the  personal  history  of  these  incumbents  we  know 
nothing.  The  Leders  and  Baldwins  were  their  patrons.  They  lived  during  the 
critical  time  of  the  latter  part  of  Henry  VIII,  Edward  VI,  Queen  Mary  and  a  large 
part  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  1357308 

We  learn  from  the  Registers  that  Gervase  Walker  was  appointed  to  the 
incumbency  in  1586,  that  he  was  married  and  had  a  numerous  family,  and  there  are 
in  the  Registers  the  record  of  the  baptisms  of  9  of  his  children.       After  1613  there 


Date  of  Death, 
Resignation 

or 
Exchange. 

d. 

1687 

d. 

1710 

d. 

1720 

r. 

1721 

r. 

1723 

r. 

1723 

d. 

1733 

d. 

1750 

r. 

1753 

d. 

1786 

1796 

d. 

1822 

r. 

1823 

d. 

1830 

d. 

1849 

d. 

1888 

r. 

1894 

r. 

1909 

36  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

are  no  more  entries  by  him,  and  as  there  is  no  entry  of  his  burial  in  Gt.  Staughton 
we  cannot  tell  whether  he  vacated  the  living  by  death  or  resignation.  During  his 
incumbency  our  prayer  book,  as  it  now  is,  was  being  made,  the  Latin  prayers  were 
being  translated,  the  Bible  also  was  being  translated,  and  the  authorised  version,  which 
is  still  used  in  most  Churches,  was  completed,  and  ordered  to  be  used  in  1611. 

The  year  1588  is  the  one  in  which  England  was  expecting  an  invasion  by  the 
Spanish  Armada,  and  many  men  from  Gt.  Staughton  joined  the  army  which  Queen 
Elizabeth  was  assembling  at  Tilbury  to  meet  it. 

After  Gervase  Walker  comes  Randulph  Eaton.  He  became  incumbent  in  1616 
and  died  in  1623.  He  was  succeeded  by  Nathaniel  Lawrence,  who  continued  to  be 
Vicar  up  to  1637,  but  after  that  date  and  up  to  1647  he  signs  the  Registers  as 
Minister  instead  of  Vicar.  We  conclude  from  this  that  in  1637  he  resigned  the  liv- 
ing in  favour  of  John  Gaule  (appointed  Vicar  by  Lady  Campden)  but  continued  to 
act  as  assistant  Curate  of  the  parish  for  John  Gaule  till  1647. 

John  Gaule  continued  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton  up  to  his  death  in  1687.  Having 
thus  been  in  possession  of  the  living  according  to  the  Registers  for  50  years. 
Although  according  to  notes  by  Thos.  Pickering  in  the  Vicars'  memorandum  books 
he  had  held  for  55  years,  having  been  appointed  in  1632.  John  Gaule  was  Vicar 
during  a  very  eventful  period  of  our  history,  viz.  :  during  the  rebellion,  the  common- 
wealth and  the  restoration,  and  he  kept  his  living  through  all  these  periods, 
although  many  incumbents  throughout  the  kingdom  resigned  their  livings.  He  has 
left  behind  him  several  printed  publications  and  sermons,  which  by  their  titles  tell 
us  a  good  deal  about  the  times  in  which  they  were  written,  and  the  character  of  the 
man  who  wrote  them.* 

We  give  the  titles  of  them  below,  or  rather  portions  of  them,  for  they  are  too  long 
to  be  given  in  full : — 

1. — Practique  Theories  or  Votive  speculations  or  Abraham's  entertainment 
of  the  Angels,  &c,  &c. 

2.—  The  Practique  Theorists  Panegyrick.     A  sermon   preached  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross  Sept.  7,  1628. 

3.—  Distractions  or  the  Holy  Madnesse  by  J.  Gaule,  1629. 

4  —The  Assize  Sermon  at  Huntingdon,  Mar.  13,  1648  or  1649  (the  date  of  the 
death  of  Chas.  T.) 

5.— Sermon  on  Mark  VII-37,  1628. 

6. — Sermon  on  John  X,  1618. 

Note.— *We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Herbert  E.  Norris,  of  Cirencester,  for  this  list  of  the  works 
of  John  Gaule.     Mr   Norris  has  in  his  possession  nearly  all  these  sermons. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  37 

7. — Vindication  of  Rom.  I  in  answer  to  Jeremy  Taylor,  1657. 
8.— Sermon  on  I  Cor.  XV-55. 

9. — The  Christian  Conjuring  of  the  Quaking  Spirit.     Defiance  of  death  being 
the  funebrious  commemoration  of  R.  H.  Lord  Hicks,  Viscount  Camden, 
1638. 
10. — An  admonition  moving  to  moderation,  holding  forth  certain   brief  heads 
of  wholesome  advice  to  the  late  and  yet  immoderate  party,  1666. 
(N.B. — This  publication  has  a  slavish  dedication  to  Charles  II.) 

11.— A  collection  out  of  approved  authors  containing  histories  of  visions. 
(Note.— This  was  published  without  Gaule's  name  in  1657). 

12. — Select  cases  of  conscience  touching  witches  and  witchcraft,  by  John 
Gaule,  preacher  of  the  word  at  Great  Staughton,  in  the  County  of 
Huntingdon,  1646. 

The  author  has  printed  a  letter  from  Matthew  Hopkins,  the  notorious  witch- 
finder,  promising  "  to  come  to  Great  Staughton  to  search  for  evil  disposed 
persons,1'  but  asking  for  good  welcome  and  entertainment.  "  Dedicated  to 
his  ever  honoured  Valentine  Wauton,  Esq.,  Colonell,  &c,  with  all  good 
people  of  the  parish."  Dedicated  to  his  excellency  the  Lord  Generall 
Cromwell. 

13. — Practique  Theories  or  Votive  speculations  upon  Christ's  Prediction, 
Incarnation,  Passion,  Resurrection,  by  John  Gaule,  1629. 

We  may  fittingly  notice  here  that  the  belief  in  Witchcraft  existed  at  this  time, 
and  that  John  Gaule  was  acquainted  with  Matthew  Hopkins,  the  witch-finder,  who 
pretended  to  be  able  by  cruel  torture  to  find  out  whether  persons  were  guilty  of 
practising  witchcraft  or  not,  and  that  Hopkins  proposed  to  come  to  Staughton  for 
the  purpose  of  finding  any  such  evil  disposed  persons.  Whether  he  actually  came 
we  have  no  record. 

In  the  registers  we  have  the  record  of  the  eldest  daughter  of  John  Gaule  being 
married  by  a  civil  marriage  before  a  magistrate  to  a  Mr.  Hawkins,  gentleman,  of 
Catworth,  in  1653. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  inscription  to  the  memory  of  John  Baldwin,  buried  in  the 
Chancel  1657,  we  have  the  initials  I.G.,  minister  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church,  shewing 
that  the  inscription  was  written  by  John  Gaule. 

In  the  registers  we  find  this  entry  :  — 

''Buried  Mr.  John  Gaule,  Minister,  July  16th,  1687." 

There  is  a  stone  in  the  Chancel  with  these  letters  inscribed  on  it — I.G.S.  This 
probably  is  for  "  John  Gaule,  Sacerdos,"  and  it  is  thought  that  under  this  stone  his 
body  is  buried. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Account  of  Vicars  from  the  beginning  of  the   Incumbency   of   Dr.  Maris, 
the  first  Vicar  presented  by  S.  John's  College,  Oxford,  to  the 

END  OF  THE  INCUMBENCY  OF  THE  REV.  J.  APPLEBY  (1687-1796). 


WE  have  seen  that  the  Patronage  of  the  living  of  Gt.  Staughton  was  in 
1637  transferred  from  Viscountess  Campden  through  Archbishop  Laud 
to  S.  John's  College,  and  in  the  notes  of  the  Rev.  Thos.  Pickering,  Vicar  of  Gt. 
Staughton  in  1710,  in  the  Parish  books,  we  read  : 

"  In  the  year  1687  the  President  and  Fellows  of  S.  John's  College,  Oxon.,  pre- 
sented to  this  Vicarage  Dr.  Richard  Maris,  who  enjoyed  it  to  30th  day  of  August, 
1710—23  years." 

Accordingly  in  the  Registers  we  find  that  Dr.  Maris  signs  the  Registers  as  Vicar 
for  the  first  time  at  the  end  of  1687. 

(We  may  note  here  that  S.  John's  College  was  founded  by  Sir  Thomas  White,  an 
Alderman  of  the  City  of  London,  in  1555.  The  foundation  to  consist  of  a  President 
and  50  Fellows  ;  of  which  the  greater  number  were  to  come  from  Merchant  Taylors 
School.     Some  also  were  to  come  from  Reading,  Coventry,  and  Ton  bridge  Schools). 

Archbishop  Laud  when  he  gave  the  living  of  Great  Staughton  to  S.  John's 
College  requested  the  President  and  Fellows,  if  able,  to  give  preference  in  appoint- 
ment to  the  living  of  Great  Staughton  to  a  Fellow  coming  from  Reading  School,  if 
there  were  one. 

As  the  name  of  Dr.  Maris  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Registers  of  Merchant  Taylors 
School,  it  is  possible  that  he,  in  accordance  with  Archbishop  Laud's  wish,  was  one  of 
the  Fellows  who  came  from  Reading  School.  Concerning  Dr.  Maris  we  have  only  to 
record  what  we  may  learn  from  the  Registers.  That  he  was  married  and  his  wife 
was  named  Elizabeth.  That  he  had  2  sons  and  3  daughters  baptized  in  Gt. 
Staughton  Church.  The  last  entry  concerning  Dr.  Maris  is  as  follows  : 
"  Richard  Maris,  LL  D.,  was  buried  August  30th,  1730.'' 

Thus  he  became  Vicar  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  James  II  and  died  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Maris,  Thos.  Pickering  was  appointed 
to  the  Vicarage  in  1710.  This  is  the  Vicar  who  first  began  to  keep  accounts  of  the 
receipts  of  the  living,  to  register  the  names  of  those  liable  to  payment  of  Tithe, 
and  also  to  make  valuable  notes  of  matters  concerning  the  living.  He  commences 
the  first  volume  with  the  following  remarks  : 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  39 

"  About  the  4th  day  of  October,  1710,  the  President  and  Fellows  of  S.  John's 
College,  Oxford,  presented  me,  the  present  unworthy  Vicar,  who  desires  that  the 
account  I  now  have  given  and  hereafter  may  give  of  the  Vicarage  of  Gt.  Staughton 
may  faithfully  be  preserved  for  the  use  of  my  successor." 

He  has  left  us  a  copy  of  the  conveyance  of  the  Rectory  and  Manor  and  advowson 
of  the  living  to  Oliver  Leder  and  Frances  (his  wife)  by  Henry  VIII  in  the  year  1539. 
This  deed  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Rolls  Court,  Chancery  Lane,  and  was  inspected  by 
Mr.  Pickering,  and  he  has  had.  this  copy  made  on  parchment,  which  is  now  pre- 
served in  the  Vicarage  at  Great  Staughton.  He  has  also  left  a  record  of  the  convey- 
ance of  the  Rectory  and  Rectory  Manor  and  advowson,  by  Lady  Campdento  S.  John's 
College.  This  also  is  to  be  found  in  the  Rolls  Court,  Chancery  Lane,  in  the  Vol.  of 
13th  year  of  Charles  I,  1637.     Mr.  Pickering  has  also  made  this  memorandum,  viz.  : 

"  That  in  the  month  of  October,  1711,  I  sent  into  the  Court  at  Huntingdon  an 
exact  Terrier  of  the  Vicarage  of  Great  Staughton  with  an  account  of  the  separate 
rights  of  the  Vicar  and  the  Parson." 

Again  there  is  the  following  memorandum — 

"  Memoranda  :  That  Sir  John  Conyers,  Baronet,  received  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  Parish 
Church  of  Great  Staughton  on  the  fourth  day  of  September,  '15." 

"  Witness  our  hands— 

Thos.  Pickering. 
Elizb.  Pickering, 
Simon  Jeakins, 

Parish  Clerk." 

We  notice  here  the  date  1715,  the  year  of  the  first  Jacobite  rising:  and  so  we 
guess  to  what  side  the  political  sympathies  of  Sir  John  Conyers  inclined,  and  that 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  received  b]  him  as  a  proof  of  his  loyalty  to 
the  Government  of  that  time.  Through  these  memorandum  books  there  are 
many  notes  that  illustrate  the  character  of  the  Vicar,  and  of  the  times,  and  of  the 
history  of  the  Parish.  The  last  record  of  him  is  that  which  we  find  in  the  Parish 
Register,  as  follows  : 

"  Buried  Thos.  Pickering,  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church,  May  17th,  1720." 

From  these  same  books  we  learn  that  Mrs.  Pickering  (the  Elizabeth  Pickering 
whose  signature  we  have  in  the  above  certificate)  continued  to  live  in  Gt.  Staughton 
after  her  husband's  death,  for  she  paid  tithe  on  a  house  in  the  "  Town."      We   have 


40  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

also  in  the  Registers  the  record  of  her  burial  in  Gt.  Staughton  May  15th,  1727.     We 
also  add  another  note  in  these  books  made  by  Mr.  Pickering,  as  follows  : 

December  12th,  1714. 

Memorandum  :  That  about  the  sixth  of  November  last  past  being  in  London,  I 
went  to  the  First-fruits  Office,  where  I  found  that  all  process  is  stopt,  on  account  of 
the  arrears  of  Tenths,  which  for  my  Predecessor  Dr.  Maris  from  the  year  1695  to 
1710  inclusive  I  paid.  And  I  give  my  successor  this  intimation,  that  if  at  any  time 
the  Officers  of  the  Exchequer  should  be  so  corrupt,  as  to  demand  the  said  tenths 
again  any  time  hereafter,  he  may  have  recourse  to  the  said  office,  where  he  will  also 
find  that  Mr.  Woodward  the  Bp.  of  Lincoln's  sub-collector  about  March  1714,  did 
give  the  account  aforesaid  into  the  First-fruits  Office,  that  no  process  might  issue  on 
account  of  the  aforesaid  Tenths. 

Thos.  Pickering. 

Mr.  Pickering  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Haywood.  He  only  held  the  living  for 
four  years,  and  he  appears  to  have  been  resident  only  for  a  short  period  of  that  time. 
The  entries  made  in  the  registers  in  the  first  part  of  his  incumbency  are  signed  by- 
John  Robinson,  Curate,  but  the  entries  during  the  year  1721  and  some  part  of  1720 
are  made  by  Dr.  Hay  ward  himself.  We  have  but  little  to  record  of  his  incumbency. 
The  following  entry  made  by  himself  in  the  Register  will  bear  witness  to  the  fact  of 
his  induction  to  the  living,  perhaps  also  may  give  us  some  idea  of  the  character  of 
the  man. 

"  Memorandum.— That  the  Revd.  Thos.  Haywood,  D.D.,  and  Fellow  of  S.  John 
Baptist  College  in  Oxford,  having  on  the  Feast  Day  of  S.  Matthias  1721  been 
inducted  into  the  Vicarage  of  Stoughton  Magna,  in  the  County  of  Huntingdon,  and 
diocese  of  Lincoln,  and  the  day  following  being  Sunday,  read  the  Common  Prayer 
with  the  39  articles,  did  also  administer  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
on  the  25th  of  March  next  following  (being  the  joint  Festival  of  the  Annunciation  of 
B.  Virgin  and  also  B.  Lord's  Resurrection  or  Easter  Day,)  in  the  Parish  Church 
aforesaid,  receiving  it  first  himself  in  both  kinds,  and  then  giving  it  to  the  Honble. 
General  Handasyde,  the  two  Churchwardens,  and  the  other  parishioners  then 
present  according  to  the  custom  and  usage  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Witness  our  hands — 

John  Scarborow,     )  church  Wardens. 

Thomas  Barrett,     J 

J.  Saunders,  Schoolmaster." 

We  may  note  from  this  memorandum  that  the  Parish  of  Staughton  was  still  in 
the  diocese  of  Lincoln  at  that  time.      Also  that  there  was  a  School  in  Gt.  Staughton. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


There  is  no  record  of  the  burial  of  Dr.  Haywood  at  Gt.  Staughton,  nor  any  entry  of 
any  member  of  his  family  ;  we  presume,  therefore,  that  he  was  a  single  man  and 
that  he  vacated  the  living  by  resignation. 

Dr.  Haywood  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  John  Gyles,  B.D.,  in  1724,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  the  living  till  1733.  He  is  the  first  Vicar  of  whom  we  have  the  record 
that  he  was  at  Merchant  Taylors  School.  He  entered  the  School  1703,  and  if  he 
entered  at  7  years  of  age,  a  not  unusual  age  at  that  time,  he  was  only  28  when  he 
became  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton.  Apparently  he  did  not  come  into  residence  till 
1726,  as  the  registers  down  to  August,  1726,  are  signed  by  Geo.  Adams,  Curate- 
After  that  the  writing  changes  and  the  signature  is  J.  Gyles,  Vicar. 

We  also  learn  from  the  Registers  that  J.  Gyles  was  married  to  Jane  Broadway, 
widow,  on  Feb.  21,  1731,  and  also  that  he  was  buried  in  Gt.  Staughton  April  18th, 
1733. 

We  find  from  the  records  in  the  possession  of  S.  John's  College  that  in  1726  Mr. 
Gyles,  with  the  consent  of  the  Bishop  and  the  College,  conveyed  to  Sir  Baldwyn 
Conyers,  the  then  tenant  of  Staughton  House,  the  Rectory  Manor,  on  the  condition 
that  a  sum  of  £20  was  paid  in  perpetuity  to  the  Vicar.  This  payment  of  £20  per 
■annum  is  still  paid  to  the  Vicars  of  Gt.  Staughton.  This  transaction  made  the- 
tenant  of  Staughton  House  to  become  the  Lord  of  the  Rectory  Manor. 

The  King  as  may  be  seen  by  the  Enclosure  Award  is  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Gt. 
Staughton.  The  tenant  of  Staughton  House  is  the  Lord  of  the  Rectory  Manor, 
together  with  all  such  rights  as  appertain  to  such  Manor. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Olyver  Leder  and  Frances  (his  wife)  bought  the 
Rectorial  Tithes  and  Glebe,  and  the  Right  of  Presentation  to  the  Vicarage,  and  the 
Rectory  Manorial  Rights.  These  all  appear  to  have  passed  to  the  Baldwyns,  but 
apparently  it  was  the  Right  of  Presentation  and  Manorial  Rights  only  passed  to 
Lady  Campden  and  S.  John's  College ;  and  the  College  seems  to  have  conveyed  the 
Rectory  Manor  to  the  Vicar  when  nominating  him  to  the  living,  and  now  the  Vicar 
•conveys  the  Rectorial  Rights  to  the  owner  of  Staughton  House.  The  conveyance  of 
the  Rectory  Manor  to  Sir  Baldwyn  Conyers  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  Act  of 
Parliament.  It  should  also  be  noted  here  that  as  there  is  £20  a  year  paid  to  the 
Vicar  by  the  owner  of  this  property  it  is  probably  on  this  account,  otherwise  accord- 
ing to  the  King's  Book,  this  is  the  sum  due  to  the  Vicar  for  the  performance  of 
the  duties  of  the  Parish  by  the  Lay  Impropriator. 

John  Gyles  died  in  1733  and  was  succeeded  by  Edward  Owen.  Edward  Owen 
Avas  born  in  1707  and  entered  Merchant  Taylors  School  in  1720.  From  the  Registers 


42  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

of  Gt.  Staughton  we  learn  that  he  was  married  and  that  his  wife's  name  was  Martha, 
that  he  had  three  children  christened  in  Staughton  Church.  Of  these,  one  a  boy, 
died  quite  an  infant,  and  one  a  daughter,  named  Elizabeth,  died  aged  13. 

We  have  not  the  Register  of  Edward  Owen's  burial,  but  Dr.  Negus,  a  successor 
of  his,  has  left  a  note  that  he  died  in  1750.  During  his  incumbency  we  note  that 
Lady  Conyers,  widow  of  Sir  Baldwyn  Conyers,  was  living  at  Staughton  House,  and 
that  the  Handasyde  family  were  living  at  Gaynes.  The  Howes,  and  afterwards  the 
Walters,  at  Place  House.  We  may  note  that  the  entries  during  the  incumbency  of 
Edward  Owen  in  the  Registers  are  all  written  in  a  clear  plain  hand,  also  that  they 
are  written  in  English,  for  before  his  time  they  had  been  written  in  Latin. 

Dr.  Edward  Bridges  Blackett  became  Vicar  of  Staughton  at  Michaelmas,  1750, 
and  resigned  at  Lady-Day,  1753.  He  was  born  in  1713,  entered  Merchant  Taylors 
School  in  1723,  was  elected  to  a  Fellowship  at  S.  John's  College  in  1732,  became  a 
D.C.L.  in  17-17,  and  resigned  his  Fellowship  in  1752.  He  was  the  son  of  Christopher 
Blackett,  of  Bridge  Street,  London.  There  is  extant  a  sermon  of  his  preached  before 
the  House  of  Commons.     The  title  page  is  as  follows  : 

"  A  Sermon  preached  before  the  Honourable  House  of  Commons  at  S.  Margarets 
Westminster  on  Tuesday  January  30th  1753,  being  the  day  appointed  to  be 
observed  as  the  day  of  the  Martyrdom  of  King  Charles  I  by  Edward  Bridges 
Blackett  LL.D.  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton,  Huntingdonshire.  Printed  for  H.  Shute 
Cox  at  the  Princes  Arms  in  Pater  Noster  Row,  MDCCLIII." 
On  the  other  side  of  the  title  page  are  these  words  : 

"  Wednesday,  31st  day  of  January  1753  :  ordered— 

"  That  the  thanks  of  this  house  be  given  to  the  Revd.  Dr.  Blackett  for  the 
Sermon  by  him  preached  yesterday  before  this  house  at  S  Margarets  Westminster, 
and  that  he  be  desired  to  print  the  same,  and  that  Lieut.-General  Handasyd  and 
Mr.  Ridley  do  acquaint  him  therewith. 

J.  Dyson 

Clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons  " 
This  sermon,  as  we  see,  was  preached  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Martyrdom  of 
King  Charles  I  only  7  years  after  the  British  Government  had  defeated  the  young 
Pretender,  the  Great  Grandson  of  Charles  I.  And  General  Handasyd,  the  friend  and 
neighbour  of  Dr.  Blackett,  had  been  actively  engaged  in  this  work  of  crushing  the 
rebellion. 

Dr.  Blackett  resigned  the  living  in  1753  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  John  Negus. 
John  Negus  was  born  September  1st,  1718,  and  entered  Merchant  Taylors  School  in 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  43 

1724,  and  was  presented  to  the  living  of  Gt.  Staughton  in  1753.  Soon  after  becom- 
ing Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton  he  was  married,  and  from  the  Tablet  to  his  memory  in  the 
Church  and  from  the  Registers  we  learn  that  his  wife  was  16  years  younger  than 
himself.  He  had  a  son  born  in  1756,  of  the  name  of  John,  christened  the  day  after 
his  birth,  who  lived  only  a  few  months.  In  1757  another  son  was  born  also  called 
John.  There  was  also  a  John  Negus,  aged  81,  buried  in  Gt.  Staughton  in  1769, 
probably  the  Father  of  the  Vicar.    Members  of  the  family  are  now  living  in  Bedford. 

There  is  a  memorial  tablet  on  the  South  wall  of  the  Nave  of  the  Church,  having 
the  following  inscription  :  — 

Mrs.  Nicholson 

wife  of  Jas.  Nicholson  Esqr 

Died  Oct.  21  1783  Aetat :  23 

Also  Jas.  the  infant  Son  of  the  above. 


Mrs  Negus  wife  of  John  Negus 

D.D.  Vicar  of  this  Parish 

died  Aug.  20th  1784  Aetat :  49 

John  Negus  D.D.  Aug  :  28 

1785  aged  67. 

Dr.  John  Negus  was,  thus  we  see,  32  years  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton,  he  was 
succeeded  by  John  Applebee.  John  Applebee  was  the  son  of  the  Revd.  Geo. 
Applebee,  of  S.  Bride's,  London.  He  was  born  January  28,  1756,  elected  to  S.  John's, 
Oxford,  1772,  took  his  M.A.  in  1780,  his  B.D.  1785.  He  became  Vicar  of  Gt. 
Staughton,  Hunts.,  in  1786. 

*It  was  during  the  incumbency  of  the  Revd.  J.  Applebee  that  that  storm  took 
place,  during  which  three  persons  were  killed  in  the  tower  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church 
■On  the  West  side  of  the  tower  outside  the  Church  is  the  following  inscription  : — 

"  In  the  Belfry  of  this  Church 
John  Chapman  aged  40 
William  Goosey  aged  15 
Charles  Favell  aged  11 
were  instantaneously  killed  by  a  flash  of  Lightning  on  the  17th  July  1787  about  4.0 

in  the  afternoon 

In  the  presence  of  several  persons 

Whose  lives  wrere  miraculously  preserved. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 


This  Stcne 
Is  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  parish  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  so  awful  a 

catastrophe." 
"Whilst o'er  their  graves  the  tears  of  pity  flow, 

May  public  virtue  spring  from  private  woe, 
Warned  by  their  fate,  the  careless  and  secure 
Shall  learn,  though  life's  uncertain,  death  is  sure." 


''Note. — This  incident  took  place  on  a  Tuesday  afternoon  while  a  peal  was  being  rung,  as 
Lord  Ludlow,  then  the  owner  of  Staughton  House,  was  driving  back  into  the 
Tillage,  having  been  away  to  the  marriage  of  one  of  his  daughters.  Chapman  is 
said  to  have  been  a  groom  at  Staughton  House.  It  is  said  that  the  boy  Favell 
took  refuge  from  the  storm  in  the  Church  porch,  and  then  went  up  into  the 
tower  to  the  ringers.  The  victims  were  buried  on  the  Thursday,  immediately 
under  the  monument.  The  landlord  of  the  "  Robinhood  "—Mr.  Thomas  Cant — 
who  was  in  the  belfry  watching  the  ringers,  was  temporarily  blinded  by  the  flash 
which  killed  the  others. 


The  above  particulars  were  gathered  from  old  persons  still  living  in  1911,  who  remembered 
what  they  had  been  told  in  their  young  days  by  those  then  still  surviving  who  were  con- 
temporaries of  the  event. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Account  of  Vicars  continued.    From   the    beginning   of  the   Incumbency  of 
the  Rev.  J.  Pope  to  the  end  of  the  Incumbency  of  the  Rev.  H.  B.  Wilson. 

(1796-1888). 


WE  do  not  know  whether  the  Rev.  J.  Appleby  vacated  the  living  by 
resignation  or  by  death,  but  we  find  that  the  Rev.  James  Pope  became 
Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton  in  1796.  We  have  now  come  to  a  period  within  the  memory 
of  those  recently  alive. 

The  present  writer  knew  an  old  man  in  the  parish  who  recollected,  as  a  child, 
seeing  Mr.  Pope,  and  others  who  were  able  to  shew  his  handwriting  on  a  certificate, 
and  in  a  Bible  given  as  a  prize. 

We  have  two  memorials  of  Mr.  Pope  in  the  Church,  one  is  a  stone  tablet  on  the 
wall  of  the  Chancel,  and  the  other  the  stained  glass  window  in  the  South  wall  of  the 
Church,  erected  by  his  two  grandchildren, William  Pope,  and  Sophia  Anne,  hie  wife.  A 
description  of  which  window  may  be  seen  in  another  place. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  in  memory  of  the  Rev.  James  Pope  on  the  South 
wall  of  the  Chancel : — 

In  memory  of 

The  Revd.  James  Pope  B.D. 

XXV  years  Vicar  of  this  parish 

He  proclaimed  salvation  for  lost  sinners 

Through  faith  in  a  crucified  Saviour 

And  after 

having  adorned  the  doctrine  of  grace  by  a 

Holy  Life 

As  an  affectionate  husband,  a  tender  father 

And  a 

Faithful  Pastor 

Peacefully  fell  asleep  in  Jesus 

On  the  IXth  day  of  January 

MDCCCXXII 

Aged  65  years. 

Mr.  Pope  has  left  many  notes  in  the  Vicar's  Note  Book  started  by  Mr.  Pickering. 
From  these  we  learn  that  when  he  first  came  to  the  Parish  he  found  the  Vicarage 


46  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

House  almost  in  ruins,  and  he  had  to  rebuild  it,  for  which  purpose  he  had  to  borrow 
a  large  sum  of  money  from  S.  John's  College,  which  was  afterwards  gradually  paid 
off.  The  Vicarage  House,  on  which  this  expenditure  was  made,  was  that  house 
which  is  now  called  the  Rectory  Farm  House,  and  which  was  at  one  time  called  the 
"  Hermitage." 

Jn  Mr.  Wilson's  time  some  exchange  of  land  was  made,  and  this  house  with  the 
land  attached  became  the  property  of  the  owner  of  Staughton  House,  and  the  land 
on  which  the  New  Vicarage  was  built  became  the  property  of  the  living.  The  new 
house  was  built  in  1852. 

We  also  learn  that  during  Mr.  Pope's  incumbency  a  certain  portion  of  land  was 
sold  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  the  land  tax  on  land  of  the  living,  and  from  this 
tax  all  the  land  has  since  been  free,  except  a  small  portion  at  Staughton  Moor.  Also 
the  enclosure  of  common  land  in  1804  in  the  parish  of  Great  Staughton  took  place 
during  the  incumbency  of  Mr.  Pope.  Of  this  enclosure  the  award  and  the  award  map 
are  now  kept  in  the  Parish  Chest  in  the  Church.  Also  we  learn  from  the  Vicar's 
books  that  Tithe  was  commuted  in  Mr.  Pope's  time. 

The  building  in  the  Churchyard,  now  used  as  a  Sunday  School,  is  the  property 
of  the  Vicar,  it  consisted  at  one  time  of  three  cottages— and  Mr.  Pope  makes  a  note 
to  the  effect— that  he  allows  the  Churchwardens  to  use  them  for  three  widows,  i.e., 
provided  that  they  appoint  to  them  such  widows  as  the  Vicar  would  approve.  We 
must  remember  that  the  old  Poor  Law  was  in  operation  at  this  time,  and  that  each 
parish  provided  for  its  own  poor,  while  Tithe  was  yet  paid  in  kind. 

Mr.  Pope  makes  this  note — "  From  the  very  poor,  whose  only  food  is  bread,  I  can 
take  no  tithe,  and  I  hope  that  my  successors  will  not  deem  that  I  have  injured  the 
living  by  so  doing,  but  rather  will  consider  that  the  grateful  prayers  of  the  poor  are 
a  better  endowment  of  the  living  than  their  payments."  Mr.  Pope  was  a  member  of 
the  Evangelical  party  in  the  Church,  and  a  friend  of  those  men  who  were  prominent 
in  that  party  at  that  time.  He  was  a  married  man  and  the  father  of  a  large  family. 
A  reverent  memory  of  his  piety  survived  in  the  parish  until  quite  recent  times.  He 
died  as  the  inscription  tells  us  in  1822,  aged  65. 

[We  have  been  told  since  the  above  was  written  that  an  old  parishioner,  -born  in 
1817,  could  remember  Mr.  Pope  holding  a  cottage  lecture  in  a  cottage  at  Dillington. 
He  also  said  that  Mr.  Pope  used  to  buy  in  coal  in  the  summer,  and  sell  it  cheap  to 
the  poor  people  in  the  winter.  Another  old  parishioner  said  that  he  never  saw 
Staughton  Church  so  full  as  it  was  at  Mr.  Pope's  funeral.  Another  that  Mr.  Pope 
used  always  to  have  two  children  from  the  Sunday  School  to  dinner  at  the  Vicarage 
every  Sunday  during  the  bad  times.] 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  47 

Mr.  Pope  was  succeeded  by  the  Revd.  Dr.  Thos.  Silver.  He  was  Vicar  only  for  a 
very  short  time,  he  was  instituted  in  1822,  and  resigned  in  1823,  and  very  probably 
was  never  resident.  Neither  his  name  nor  Mr.  Pope's  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Merchant  Taylors  School  Register.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  Vicarage  in  1823  by 
the  Revd.  Thomas  Clare.  He  died  in  1830.  There  is  a  tablet  to  his  memory  in  the 
Chancel  as  follows  : — 

In  memory  of 

The  Revd.  Thomas  Clare  A.M. 

Late  Vicar  of  this  Parish 

Who  died  13th  of  July  1830 

aged  51  years 

This  tablet  is  erected  by 

His  affectionate  Widow. 

His  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Merchant  Taylors  School  Register. 

Mr.  Clare  was  succeeded  by  the  Revd.  Thomas  Winter  Mead.  He  was  at 
Merchant  Taylors  School.  He  was  born  Sept.  23rd,  1783,  admitted  into  the  School 
in  1792,  elected  to  S.  John's  College  in  1802,  became  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton  in  1830. 
and  died  in  1849,  aged  66. 

It  is  probable  that  the  two  last  Vicars,  viz.  :  Rev.  Thomas  Clare,  Vicar,  18r3- 
1830,  and  Rev.  Thomas  Winter  Mead,  Vicar,  1830-1849,  were  for  some  time  non- 
resident during  their  incumbencies,  we  find  that  the  Revd.  C.  Ridley  was  Curate  of 
the  parish,  viz.  :  from  1823  to  1845.     He  resided  at  Place  House. 

The  Revd.  T.W.  Mead  was  succeeded  by  the  Revd.  Henry  Bristow  Wilson,  B.D., 
well  known  in  the  Ecclesiastical  World  as  one  of  the  writers  in  "Essays  and  Reviews." 

He  was  the  son  of  the  Revd.  Harry  Bristow  Wilson,  D.D.,  at  one  time  Master  of 
Merchant  Taylors  School,  and  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Aldermary,  London,  for  37 
years,  and  also  author  of  the  history  of  Merchant  Taylors  School.  Mr.  Henry  B. 
Wilson  was  born  in  1803,  and  entered  Merchant  Taylors  School  in  1809,  and  was 
elected  to  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  in  1825.  He  was  select  preacher  in  1835  and 
1842,  Public  Examiner  in  1836-1838  and  1850-1851,  Professor  of  Anglo-Saxon  1839, 
Bampton  Lecturer  in  1851  on  the  "  Communion  of  Saints,"  Contributor  to  the 
Oxford  Essays  1857  and  to  "  Essays  and  Reviews  "  in  1860.  His  subject  being  the 
National  Church.  As  writer  of  this  Essay  he  is  best  known.  For  the  opinions 
expressed  in  it  he  was  prosecuted  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  and  was  suspended 
from  his  living  for  a  year.  He  appealed  to  the  Privy  Council  and  defended  his  own 
case.  The  decision  of  the  Eccelesiastical  Court  was  reversed  and  the  suspension 
taken  off. 


48  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  one  of  the  four  tutors,  who  in  1841,  when  the  famous  tract  XC 
was  published,  wrote  a  letter  of  protest  against  the  principles  enunciated  in  that 
tract.       The   result   of   this   protest    was   the   condemnation  of   the   tract  by   the 
Hebdomadal  Council,  and  no  more  "  Tracts  for  the  Times  "  were  published.     There 
is  an  inscription  on  the  North  wall  of  the  Chancel  to  his  memory,  as  follows  : — 
"  In  loving  memory  of  Henrf  Bristow  Wilson 
38  years  Vicar  of  Great  Staughton,  Hunts. 
Born  June  10th  1803  Died  Aug.  10th  1888 
Buried  in  the  North  East  Corner  of  the 
New  Churchyard." 
Also  to  the  memory  of  his  father,  as  follows  : — 

"  Also  of  Harry  Bristow  Wilson 
37  years  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Aldermary 

London 
Buried  in  the  Chancel  of  this  Church." 
Mr.  Wilson  on  account  of  the  state  of  his  health  was  absent  from  the  parish  for 
the  last  eighteen  years  of  his  life.  A  massive  cross  marks  the  spot  where  he  is  buried 
in  the  New  Churchyard.  Mrs.  Wilson,  his  wife,  was  buried  by  his  side  some  years 
afterwards.  Mrs.  Wilson,  his  mother,  Miss  Wilson,  his  sister,  and  Miss  Moore,  his 
aunt,  are  buried  in  the  Old  Churchyard  just  under  the  East  window.  Two  memorial 
stones  mark  the  place  where  they  lie. 

We  have  now  completed  our  record  of  the  Rectors  and  Vicars  of  Great  Staughton. 
After  Mr.  Wilson  there  are  three  names  on  the  list,  but  being  still  alive  at  the 
time  these  words  were  written,  of  course  no  comment  is  made  concerning  them.  Our 
list  begins  with  the  name  of  a  Rector  in  the  middle  of  the  13th  century,  concerning 
whom  we  know  nothing.  We  end  with  the  incumbency  of  Mr.  H.  B.  Wilson,  whose 
memory  is  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  many  in  Staughton. 

The  writer  of  these  words  knew  Mr.  Wilson  and  his  family,  and  stayed  with  him 
in  the  present  Vicarage,  as  a  pupil,  in  the  year  1858.  Curiously,  the  late  Mr.  Charles 
Wade-Gery,  of  Wornditch,  was  also  a  pupil,  and  used  to  ride  over  from  Colmworth 
for  the  purpose  of  reading  with  Mr.  Wilson  at  that  time.  Mr.  Wilson's  mother  and 
aunt  were  also  then  living  with  him  at  the  Vicarage. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  Church.      Introduction  of  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  into  England. 

Archbishop  Wilfred,  Benedict  Biscop,  Abp.  Theodore,  S.  Aldhelm, 

S.  Dunstan,  Abp.  Lanfranc  and  the  Normans  generally. 

Architectural  Description  of  Gt.  Staughton  Church 

by  Diocesan  Surveyor. 


TJOW  came  these  beautiful  old  Christian  buildings  in  our  Villages  ;  the  sight 
*|  of  which  fills  all  our  hearts  with  joy  ;  and  which,  to  all  those  generations 

-^—*  that  have  lived  under  their  shadow,  have  been  associated,  without  per- 
haps consciousness  on  their  part,  with  all  that  is  most  sacred,  elevating  and  tender 
in  their  minds. 

When  our  Anglo-Saxon  forefathers  came  into  England  they  not  only  destroyed 
the  believers  in  the  Christian  faith,  but  also  the  buildings  of  the  Christian  Britons 
that  they  found  there.  The  Angles  and  Saxons  were  farmers  and  detested  towns,  and 
destroyed  them,  and  so  they  made  clearings  in  the  forest  and  built  townships  of 
wood  in  such  places  that  they  might  carry  on  their  work  as  farmers. 

That  there  were  some  British  Churches  left  in  England  we  may  gather  from  the 
fact  that  S.  Martin's  Church  now  standing  in  Canterbury  was  used  for  the  baptism 
of  Ethelbert  when  he  was  converted.  But  though  the  Churches  were  destroyed,  the 
English  had,  as  we  learn  from  Bede,  temples  dedicated  to  the  Worship  of  their 
pagan  gods  such  as  Woden  (in  Kent,  Northumbria  and  East  Anglia).*  "These  build- 
ings were  rough  wooden  buildings,  standing  in  hallowed  enclosures,  called  the 
Frithyard  or  Peace  Yard.  These  enclosures  had  the  right  of  Sanctuary,  and  their 
inner  shrines  enclosed  images  of  their  gods  with  altars  before  them. 

On  the  conversion  of  the  tribe,  these  temples  were  without  shock  to  the  popular 
feeling  turned  into  Christian  Churches,  and  the  right  of  sanctuary  still  clung  to  the 
place  then  named  Churchyard." 

We  read  of  Coifi,  the  priest  of  one  of  these  heathen  temples— being  the  first,  after 
Edwin,  King  of  Northumbria,  had  declared  in  favour  of  Christianity,  to  begin  the 
destruction  of  the  temple  in  which  he  had  before  ministered  ;  yet  in  all  cases  the 
temples  were  not  destroyed. 

Pope  Gregory  writing  to  Abbot  Mellitus  (in  601)  says  :  "I  have  determined 
that  the  temples  of  the  Idols  in  the  English  Land  ought  not  to  be  destroyed    .     .     . 

(Note. — *Green's  Making  o1  England.) 


50  HISTORY     OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

For  if  those  temples  are  well  built,  it  is  requisite  that  they  be  converted  from  the 
worship  of  devils  to  the  service  of  the  true  God  ....  and  that  on  the  day  of 
dedication  or  the  nativities  of  the  Martyrs,  the  people  may  build  themselves  huts  of 
the  boughs  of  the  trees  about  their  Churches,  and  celebrate  the  solemnity  with 
religious  feasting."  And  we  read  also  in  Bede — That  "  in  the  same  place  where  the 
High  Priest  Coifi  destroyed  the  temple  of  Woden,  Edwin,  the  King,  built  a  larger 
and  nobler  Church  of  stone  in  the  midst  whereof  that  same  oratory  which  he  had 
first  erected  should  be  enclosed."  We  may  therefore  very  fairly  assume  that  in  the 
place  where  Gt.  Staughton  Church  now  stands  once  stood  a  temple  of  Woden,  and 
that  the  Churchyard  is  in  the  place  of  the  Old  Frithyard.  The  temple  of  Woden 
and  so  the  first  Christian  Church  here  would  undoubtedly  be  of  wood. 

How  then  and  when  did  the  art  of  building  stone  Churches  come  into  Britain  ? 
At  the  time  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion,  and  the  destruction  of  the  buildings  of 
civilization,  Rome  was  the  centre,  at  least  in  Europe,  of  all  art,  science  and  learning. 
But  when  Christianity  had  spread  through  England,  from  time  to  time  visits  would 
be  made  by  the  leading  Ecclesiastics  of  England,  and  others,  to  Rome,  and  on  their 
return  they  would  naturally  bring  back  with  them  accounts  of  the  wonders  and 
beauties  of  the  products  of  civilization  existing  at  Rome.  Conspicuous  amongst 
these  visitors  to  Rome  were  two  men  in  the  7th  century — Wilfred,  who  was  after- 
wards Archbishop  of  York,  and  Benedict  Biscop,  an  Anglian  Nobleman.  These  men 
after  their  return  from  Rome  introduced  into  England  the  arts  of  architecture,  Church 
music,  of  making  windows  of  coloured  glass,  and  of  the  illuminated  writing  of  Books 
of  the  Gospels  and  of  the  Services  of  the  Church. 

*"  Wilfred  renewed  the  old  Church  of  Paulinus  at  York  and  built  it  very 
strongly  of  stone  like  the  Churches  he  had  seen  in  Italy.  He  built  a  new  basilica  at 
Ripon  and  founded  the  Cathedral  there  and  at  York  and  Hexham.  He  travelled 
about  the  country  followed  by  his  Monks  and  a  party  of  builders  and  stonemasons, 
the  latter  of  whom  he  employed  in  restoring  old  Churches  and  building  new  ones 
whenever  he  could  prevail  on  the  noblemen  and  gentry  to  give  him  the  land.  The 
Cathedral  at  York  that  he  founded  was  necessarily  of  a  very  rude  character,  but  was 
accounted  in  those  days  very  magnificent.  The  Bishop  also  exhorted  the  people  to 
offer  money  for  the  building  of  Churches  and  Monasteries." 

"In  674  Benedict  Biscop,  the  friend  of  Bp.  Wilfred,  began  the  erection  of  his  two 

Monasteries  of  Jarrow  and  Wearmouth  at  the  mouth   of  the   Wear.     Tn  these  two 

Monasteries   the  Saintly  Bede  spent  his   whole  life  from  the  age  of   seven.     But 

Benedict  Biscop  had  hardly  begun  to  build  before  he  crossed  again  into  Gaul  to  find 

(Note.-  'Green's  Making  of  England.) 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


masons  who  could  build  him  a  Church  after  the  Roman  style.  The  very  tradition  of 
the  building  art  had  passed  away,  and  architecture  had  to  be  brought  back  to 
Britain  as  a  foreign  thing.  No  buildings  in  Northern  Britain  could  vie  with 
Benedict's  Church  at  Wearmouth,  save  the  Churches  which  his  friend  Wilfred  was 
raising  at  the  same  time  in  the  Western  Moorlands  at  Ripon  and  at  Hexham  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Tyne." 

Archbishop  Theodore,  of  Canterbury,  (668)  also  encouraged  rich  people  to  spend 
their  money  in  building  Churches  all  over  the  country. 

Aldhelm,  born  about  the  middle  of  the  7th  century  was,  besides  being  one  of  the 
most  learned  of  men,  a  great  architect,  and  planted  Monasteries  at  Bradford,  at 
Frome,  at  Sherborne  and  at  Wareham. 

The  Churches  at  Malmesbury  and  Shrewsbury  were  the  only  ones  spared  by  the 
Norman  architects  after  the  Conquest. 

The  Church  at  Bradford  stands  in  almost  perfect  preservation  at  the  present  day. 

The  style  of  architecture  which  came  to  England  at  the  time  of  the  Anglo-Saxrns 
is  called  Romanesque,  as  it  arose  out  of  the  Roman  style,  uninfluenced  by  anything 
from  the  East.  This  style  arose  in  the  4th  century  and  continued  and  developed 
until  it  was  subverted  in  the  12th  century  by  the  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch. 

The  Cathedral  of  Peterboro'  (formerly  Medeshamsted)  was  founded  by  Peada  King 
of  the  Mercians  in  656.  This  was  entirely  destroyed  by  the  Danes  in  870.  The 
present  building  is  the  third  Church  that  has  occupied  the  site. 

In  673  the  great  Monastery,  which  afterwards  became  the  Cathedral  of  Ely,  was 
founded  by  Ethelreda,  the  wife  of  Oswy,  King  of  Northumbria.  This  Church, 
destroyed  by  the  Danes  in  870,  was  restored  in  970  by  King  Edgar,  and  became  the 
Cathedral  Church  of  the  diocese  of  Ely  1109.  Thus  we  see  that  there  were  a  few 
remains  of  British  Churches  in  the  country  at  the  time  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion, 
though  the  country  was  wholly  heathen. 

The  art  of  architecture  and  of  building  Churches  of  stone  was  re-introduced  in  the 
7th  century  at  the  time  of  the  conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  by  such  men  as 
Wilfred,  Archbishop  of  York,  Benedict  Biscop,  S.  Aldhelm,  and  Theodore  of  Tarsus, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  In  this  Archbishop's  time  immense  sums  were  spent  in 
Church  building  and  restoration.  In  many  cases  this  meant  the  replacing  of  the  old 
timber  structures  by  more  solid  edifices  with  stone  walls  and  of  a  grander  appearance. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  9th  century  came  the  invasion  of  the  Danes  ;  and  they 
destroyed  every  Church  and  Monastery  they  came  near.  In  their  descent  upon  the 
North  the  Danes  destroyed  the  ancient  Monasteries  of  Ripon,  Hexham,  Whitby  and 


52  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


Lindisfarne.  There  is  a  touching  account  given  by  Engulph  of  the  destruction  of 
the  fine  old  Abbey  of  Croyland.  This  Abbey  was  built  in  716  by  Ethehvold,  King 
of  the  Mercians,  in  memory  of  S.  Guthlac,  who,  having  renounced  the  profession  of 
arms,  desired  to  live  a  secluded  life  amid  the  solitude  of  the  Lincolnshire  Fens.  The 
ruins  of  the  Abbey  stand  about  half  way  between  Peterboro1  and  Spalding.  The 
following  is  an  account  of  its  destruction  taken  from  Abbot  Gasquet's  "  Greater 
Abbeys  "  *  : — 

"  In  870  the  Danes  ravaged  the  whole  country,  and  having  defeated  Earl  Algar's 
army,  pursued  the  survivors  to  the  very  door  of  the  Monastery  at  Crowland.  The 
community  hastily  retired,  carrying  off  in  a  box  the  body  of  their  patron,  S.  Guthlac, 
with  his  psalter  and  whip,  which  is  called  elsewhere  S.  Bartholomew's  whip,  and  is 
represented  on  the  arms  of  the  Abbey,  and  hid  them  in  Ancarig  Wood,  where  there 
was  an  hermitage.  The  plate  and  altarpiece  were  then  let  down  into  the  well  of  the 
cloister  ;  but  the  latter,  which  was  much  prized  as  being  the  gift  of  King  Witlag 
fifty  years  before,  and  which  possibly  may  have  been  '  the  golden  veil  embroidered 
with  the  fall  of  Troy,'  specially  spoken  of,  but  it  would  not  sink,  and  was  handed 
over  to  the  charge  of  the  Abbot  and  some  seniors.  Thirty  monks  remained  behind 
in  the  Monastery  and  continued  to  carry  out  their  duties  as  before,  until  just  as  Mass 
was  over  the  Danes  broke  into  the  Church  where  they  were.  Oskitel,  the  Danish 
King,  murdered  the  Abbot  with  his  own  hands,  and  the  rest  of  the  monks  were 
tortured  to  make  them  reveal  the  place  where  the  Church  treasure  was  hidden,  as 
they  refused  they  were  put  to  death  in  various  places  of  the  establishment.  Asker, 
the  prior,  for  instance  was  slaughtered  in  the  sacristy,  Lethwyn,  the  sub-prior,  in 
the  refectory,  and  only  one  of  their  number,  Turgar,  a  boy  of  ten  years  old,  was 
spared.  All  the  tombs  were  broken  open  in  hopes  of  discovering  the  buried 
treasures,  which  however  were  not  found.  Being  disappointed  of  their  object,  the 
barbarians  laid  the  bodies  of  the  murdered  monks  in  a  heap  and  setting  fire  to 
them,  burnt  as  their  funeral  pyre  the  church  and  monastic  buildings  on  Aug.  28th, 
870,  three  days  after  their  arrival  at  Crowland." 

Thus  we  see  what  havoc  was  made  by  the  Danes  in  the  9th  century  of  such 
Christian  Churches  as  they  found  existing  at  that  time.  How  far  this  may  have 
affected  the  Churches  in  small  places  such  as  Staughton  we  cannot  tell,  but  as  the 
Danes  settled  in  large  numbers  in  the  kingdom  of  Mercia.  and  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  south  of  the  middle  English,  and  the  Fens  watered  by  the  Ouse,  and  the 


*  Abbot  Gasquet  says  :  "'Most  of  the  story   of  Crowland  depends  upon  the   Chronicle 
Ingulph,  now  admitted  to  be  a  composition  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  must  of  coi 


of 
court 

be  received  with  caution. 


THE    INTERIOR    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

BY     MISS     RUTH     WEST. 


TO    FACE    PAGE    LIII. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  53 

Nen,  originally  the  district  of  the  tribe  known  as  the  South  English,  grouped  round 
the  towns  of  Bedford,  Huntingdon  and  Northampton,  in  which  district  Staughton  is, 
it  is  very  likely  it  shared  in  the  general  destruction  of  Christian  buildings. 

In  the  10th  century  St.  Dunstan  (born  925),  like  Wilfred,  encouraged  everywhere 
the  building  of  Churches  and  Monasteries,  and  was  himself  very  skilful  in  carving 
stone  and  carpentering,  besides  being  able  to  illuminate  or  paint  manuscripts  very 
beautifully. 

In  the  11th  century,  after  the  Conquest,  when  the  conqueror  had  made  Lanfranc, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  great  strides  were  made  in  the  process  of  restoration  of 
Churches  and  the  building  of  them  of  stone.  "  Under  the  guidance  of  Lanfranc, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  (1070)  immense  sums  were  spent  in  Church  building 
and  restoration.  In  many  cases  this  meant  the  replacing  of  the  old  timber  structures 
by  more  solid  edifices  with  stone  walls  and  of  a  grander  appearance.  Above  all  the 
Norman  passion  for  building  shewed  itself  in  raising  the  glorious  Cathedrals 
Canterbury,  Rochester,  Lincoln,  Durham,  and  many  others,  which  in  their  present 
form  are  the  glory  and  pride  of  our  country.  They  were,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
begun  in  the  Conqueror's  time,  and  went  on  increasing  in  stateliness  and  magnificence 
in  the  age  that  followed." 

Having  thus  traced  the  general  history  of  Church  building  in  England  from  the 
earliest  times,  we  may  now  turn  to  Gt.  Staughton  Church  itself  and  see  what  its 
own  architecture  bears  witness  to  as  to  its  origin  and  history.  For  this  purpose  we 
Will  quote  from  a  paper  in  the  Hunts.  Archaeological  Transactions  for  1908,  by  Mr. 
Inskip  Ladds,  A.R.I. B. A.,  the  Diocesan  Surveyor.     Mr.  Ladds  writes  as  follows  :  — 

"  Gt.  Staughton  Church  (S.  Andrew's)  consists  of  Chancel  with  Vestry  and 
Chapel  on  the  North,  Nave  with  two  Aisles,  Clerestory,  and  South  Porch,  and  a  fine 
Western  Tower.  There  is  mention  in  Domesday  Book  of  there  being  a  Church  at 
Gt.  Staughton.  But  there  are  apparently  no  remains  in  the  present  building  older 
than  the  thirteenth  century,  of  which  date  are  the  whole  of  the  walls  of  the  Chancel, 
both  the  responds  of  the  South  Arcade,  and  parts  of  the  columns  on  both  sides,  so 
that  the  Church  was  evidently  about  the  same  size  in  those  days  as  it  is  now.  Of  the 
Chancel  one  of  the  Early  English  windows  remains  in  the  North  wall,  but  the  others 
are  all  insertions  of  various  dates.  Against  the  North  wall  is  a  large  and  rich  double 
monument  to  the  Dyers.  The  parapets  are  poor,  and  there  is  a  modern  cross  on  the 
East  gable  ;  but  on  the  gable  over  the  Chancel  arch  there  is  a  simple  bell-cot  and 
sanctus  bell.  The  Vestry  is  quite  plain,  but  the  parapet  is  inscribed  Ad  Do  :  1526  : 
ENEL.  The  Gaynes  Chapel  on  the  North  side  of  the  Chancel  has  a  charming  little 
bay  window  on  its  North   side  bearing  the  arms  of  the  Engaine,   Barnach   and 


54  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


Stonham  families.     A  perpendicular  window  in  the  East  wall  is  blocked  up  by  the 
Handasvd  monument.     Upon  an  altar  tomb  to  Sir  James  Beverly,  Knight,  who  died 
in  1670  there  now  rest  an  old  helmet  and  a  pair  of  gauntlets.     The  Nave  is  of  five 
bays  •  the  arches  of  the  Arcades  are  simply  chamfered  and  are  carried  by  circular 
columns  the  caps  and  bases  of  which  are  in  some  cases  Early  English,  and  m  others- 
perpendicular.     The  Clerestory  has  five  plain  perpendicular  two  lights  on  each  side. 
The  rood  stairs  are  on  the  South,  and  both  the  upper  and  lower  doors  remain.      I  he 
North  side  is  perpendicular,  but  the  South  aisle  is  late  decorated,  and  has  two-light 
and  three-light  windows  of  good  reticulated  design.  The  South  door  has  jamb  shaft* 
with  good  carved  caps.     The  monument  to  George  Wanton,  who  died  in  1606, 
occupies  a  large  space  at  the  Eastern  end  of  the  South  wall,  and  is  surmounted  by 
his  coat  of  arms  and  crest.   The  Font  now  stands  at  the  crossing  of  the  central  aisles 
of  the  Church  :  the  bowl  is  Early  English  and  was  buried  for  35  years  in  front  of 
the  Wanton  monument,  but  was  dug  up  in  1901  and  re-erected  on  a  modern  stem 
and  base     The  wooden  screen  under  the  tower  arch  is  composed  partly  of  the  panels 
of  an  old  pulpit  and  partly  of  an  ancient  seat  back,  the  latter  bears  the  inscription  : 
'Of  vour  charity  pray  for  the  good  Estate  of  Olyver  Leder  and  trances  his  wife 
Anno  Dni  1539/     The  South  Porch  is  of  late  decorated  date  and  of  similar  character 
to  the  aisle.     The  Tower  is  a  fine  specimen  of  perpendicular  design  ;  it  has  a  band 
of  quatrefoils  along  the  plinth,  and  the  West  door  is  f^.m  »  ^™^ 
traceried   spandrels.       The   West  window   is   a   good  four-light,   and   the  betfry 
windows  are  double  two-lights  with  transoms  ;  and  above  these  there  is  an  embattled 
parapet  with  crocketted  pinnacles  at  the  angles." 

The  earliest  permanent  records  of  Gt.  Staughton  exist  in  the  Church  itself. 
Parts  of  the  Church  which  we  now  see,  viz. :  those  of  the  Early  English  period,  were 
standing  where  they  are  now  in  the  13th  century,  i.e.,  more  than  600  years  ago  In 
hiscenUirv,  probably  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III  (who  »^«W?^?*£ 
century)  this  part  of  the  Church,  viz.  :  the  Chancel  and  the  Nave,  were  built  (he 
ITs  es  he  Porch  and  the  Tower  were  of  later  date).  In  this  century  Gt.  Staughton 
parish  was  in  the  diocese  of  Lincoln,  and  the  Manor  of  Gt.  Staughton  was  held  bj 
the  Mandevilles  under  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 

It  was  in  this  century  that  the  orders  of  Friars  arose  ;  th^inen, bemuse  the 
Clergy  were  frequently  ignorant,  indolent  and  vicious,  went  about  the  country  like 
the  Wesleyan  Methodists  in  later  time,  depending  for  a  subsistence  on  t he  dm.  o 
those  to  whom  they  preached,  and  brought  the  message  of  the  Gospel  home  to  he 
mass  of  the  people.  These  good  men  were  strongly  supported  by  Grossteste,  he 
B^l  op  of  Lincoln,  and  were  the  means  of  the  revival  of  spiritual  religion  in  the 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  55 

Church  at  that  time,  though  afterwards  they  often  degenerated  into  idle  vagabonds, 
the  enemies  of  the  Parish  Clergy.  Such  were  the  times  in  England  when  the  Early 
English  Church  in  Gt.  Staughton  was  built. 

In  the  next  century  the  decorated  style  arose,  of  which  we  have  some  specimens 
in  the  South  aisle  and  the  porch. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Account  of  Gt.  Staughton  Bells,  by  Rev.  T.  M.  Owen.     Campanology. 
The  Art  of  Bell  Ringing.     The  Angelus  Bell.    Millet's  Picture. 
Milton  II  Penseroso. 

■  HE  Church  of  St.  Andrew,  Gt.  Staughton,  was  visited  by  the  Revd.  T.  M. 
5*-    Owen,  Rector  of  Woodwalton,  on  September  30th  (1890)  and  he  made  the 
following  report  upon  the  Bells  : — 

There  are  five  Bells  in  the  Tower  and  the  Sanctus  Bell  in  the  Chancel  Gable. 
The  Sanctus  Bell  is  quite  blank. 
The  1st  Bell  has  the  following  inscription  on  it : — 

I.H.S.  Nazarenus  Rex  Judaeorum  Fili  Dei  miserere  mei  1633. 
Diameter  34|  inches. 

The  2nd  Bell  - 

Edmond  Ibbott.     Raphe  Paine  C.  1633. 
The  3rd  Bell— 
+  Hac  in  Conclave 
Gabriel  nunc  Pange  Suave. 
(Mediaeval)  Diameter  38£  inches. 
The  4th  Bell— 

( coin )  John  Appleby,  Vicar.      Edward  S— A (obliterated)  and  John  Rose, 

Churchwardens.     St.  Neots  fecit  1787  (\?0°n°)  Robt.  Taylor. 
Tenor  Bell— 

+  George  Wauton,  Esquier,  1600.     George  Walk-re,  Minister  (and  on  2nd  line) 
George  Daiter,  William  Glover,  Churchwardens.     Diameter  45|  ins. 
The  2nd  and  Tenor  Bells  are  inscribed  in  Lombardic  letters,  and  like  the  first 
Bell  are  from  Watts'  celebrated  foundry  at  Leicester. 
The  third  Bell  is  in  "  black  letter  "  type. 


Note.— In  the  introduction  to  'The  Edwardian  Inventories  of  Huntingdonshire"  (1906)  is 
the  following  note  :— 'The  Sanctus  Bell  was  usually,  in  England,  in  a  bell-cot  at 
the  East  end  of  the  Nave.  At  Great  Staughton,  bell-cot  and  bell  are  still  there, 
the  only  example  left  in  the  county." 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  57 


Weights    I 

cwt. 

6 

qrs 

2 

IT 

8 

3 

III 

10 

2 

IV 

15 

V 

..       18 

The  Bell  No.  V  or  the  tenor  bell  sounds  the  hours. 

In  the  Edwardian  Inventory  of  Church  Bells  in  Huntingdonshire  made  in  1552. 
it  is  stated  that  there  were  four  Bells  in  Gt.  Staughton  Church.  It  is  plain  there- 
fore from  the  dates  on  the  present  Bells,  that  of  the  present  five,  the  3rd  Bell,  the 
mediaeval  one,  is  the  only  one  of  those  mentioned  in  the  inventory  of  1552  now  exist- 
ing, for  all  the  others  bear  later  dates.  The  other  three  then  which  have  disappeared 
were  probably  melted  down  and  sold  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution  of  the  greater 
monasteries,  or  melted  down  at  a  later  date  and  made  into  other  Bells  in  the  17th 
century,  when  the  art  of  change  ringing  was  introduced  into  England.  We  read  of 
one  instance  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  when  100,000  lbs.  of  bell  metal  was  sold  for 
£900. 

In  another  inventory  of  Church  property  made  in  1640,  and  preserved  in  the 
Parish  Chest,  we  learn  that  at  that  date  there  were  five  great  bells  and  one  little  bell 
hanging  between  the  Church  and  the  Chancel.  But  as  the  date  on  the  4th  bell  is 
1787,  this  must  have  been  substituted  for  the  one  hanging  there  in  1640. 

Very  few  mediaeval  bells  remain,  those  that  do  generally  have  some  pious 
invocation  on  them.  There  is,  as  we  see  from  the  above  list  of  them,  one  mediaeval 
bell  at  Gt.  Staughton  having  the  invocation  on  it : — 

"  Hac  in  Conclave 

Gabriel 

Nunc  pange  Suave  " 

Now  in  this  loft  high 

Strike  the  bell  softly 

O  Gabriel. 

This  is  manifestly  the  bell  sometimes  called  the  "  Ave  Bell,  or  the  Gabriel  or 
Angelus  Bell,"  because  it  was  rung  in  the  morning  and  evening  with  a  view  of  invit- 
ing all  to  recite  the  Ave  Maria  or  the  address  of  the  Angel  Gabriel  to  the  B.V.M. 
when  they  heard  it. 

There  is  a  well-known  picture  by  the  painter  Millet,  it  has  the  name  of  "  The 
Angelus."  In  it  we  see  two  peasants  in  the  fields  apparently  at  sunset,  each  with 
bowed  heads,  and  the  man  with  his  head  uncovered.    They  have  heard  the  Angelus, 


58  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

and  they  both,  though  engaged  in  work,  are  leaving  off  for  a  few  moments  for  the 
purpose  of  devotion.     It  is  a  beautiful  idea. 

In  Abbot  Gasquet's  "  Parish  Life  "  we  have  some  account  of  the  origin  of  ring- 
ing the  Angelus  and  of  the  times  when  it  was  rung.  The  Angelus  Bell,  the  Ave 
Bell,  or  the  Gabriel  Bell,  as  it  was  variously  called  in  England,  probably  grew  out 
of  the  Curfew.  But  in  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  turned  into  a  Universal 
religious  ceremony.* 

"  In  1347  the  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  desired  the  Clergy  to  say  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning  and  the  last  thing  at  night  five  "  Aves  "  for  all  benefactors  living  or 
dead.  Some  few  years  before  that  time  Pope  John  XXII  had  urged  the  habit  of 
saying  three  aves  at  Curfew  time.  The  practice  soon  spread  in  England  and  grew 
as  it  spread,  and  Archbishop  Arundel,  of  Canterbury,  in  1399  ordered  such  usage, 
the  first  thing  in  the  early  morning  and  the  last  thing  at  night  to  be  universally 
adopted  in  the  province  "  at  daybreak  and  at  curfew,"  and  the  bell  that  was  then 
rung  was  called  by  our  English  ancestors  the  "  Gabriel  Bell,"  in  memory  of  that 
angel's  salutation  of  the  B  V.  Mary. 

By  a  fortunate  chance  we  are  able  to  know  the  actual  time  at  which  this  Angelus 
Bell  was  rung,  for  a  casual  note  in  Bury  S.  Edmunds  book  gives  the  times  of  the 
tolling  in  that  City  as  at  4  a.m.  and  9  p.m.  in  the  summer  and  6  a.m.  and  8  p.m.  in 
winter." 

Besides  the  five  Bells  in  the  Tower,  there  was  as  we  see  from  Mr.  Owen's  report 
also  the  Sanctus  Bell  in  the  Bell-cote  in  the  Chancel  Gable.  This  bell,  though  blank, 
has  recently  been  disengaged  from  its  fixed  position  by  the  Churchwardens  and  a 
cord  attached  and  is  rung  five  minutes  before  morning  and  evening  service  on 
Sundays.  The  Sanctus  Bell  is  so  called  as  Dr.  Hook  says  from  having  been  rung 
at  the  time  of  singing  the  ter-Sanctus,  or  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  and  thus  calling  on  those  who  hear  it  to  join  in  praise  to  Him  to 
Whom  the  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  is  being  offered. 

$"  In  the  17th  century  the  art  of  change  ringing  arose  and  thus  rescued  the  bells 
from  some  of  the  neglect  into  which  they  had  fallen,  but  it  was  also  the  cause  of 
many  of  the  old  big  bells  being  melted  down  into  smaller  ones.  So  little  regard 
however  was  paid  to  the  bells  that  in  a  parish  on  the  South  Coast  smuggled  goods 
were  regularly  hidden  inside  them  lashed  fast  to  the  clappers. 

Many  bells,  old  and  new,  have  been  spoilt  by  careless  and  unskilful  ringing, 
especially  by  that  slovenly  habit  of  "  clocking"  as  it  is  called,  i.e.,  tying  a  cord  to 

*Gasquet's  Parish  Life.  %The  Times  newspaper. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  59 

the  clapper  and  jerking  against  the  bell  in  a  manner  which  checks  vibration. 

Two  mediaeval  bells  are  now  lying  cracked  on  the  floor  of  a  west  country  belfry, 
broken  by  lads  who  got  into  the  belfry  and  hammered  on  the  bells  with  heavy  blows." 

The  use  of  bells  in  Churches  for  the  purpose  of  calling  worshippers  together 
comes  from  the  Romans.  The  Ancient  Romans  used  bells  for  summoning  persons 
to  the  public  baths  and  also  in  processions,  so  the  use  of  them  in  such  a  way  has 
passed  from  them  to  the  Christian  Church.  We  first  hear  of  Paulinus,  Bishop  of 
Nola,  in  Campania,  A.D.  400,  using  them  in  the  Christian  Church. 

Bede  speaks  of  their  being  used  in  England  in  the  7th  century,  and  we  hear  of 
Benedict  Abbot,  of  Wearmouth,  using  them  in  680. 

Bells  were  at  first  of  small  size,  and  the  foundries  for  making  them  were  in  that 
early  age  to  be  found  in  the  monasteries. 

It  was  not  till  the  13th  century  that  the  art  of  bell  founding  was  so  far  developed 
that  it  could  produce  big  bells  such  as  we  are  accustomed  to  in  the  present  day. 
The  art  attained  perfection  in  Holland  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries. 

The  first  regular  peal  of  bells  in  this  country  was  sent  in  1456  by  Pope  Calixtus 
IV  to  King's  College,  Cambridge.  That  for  300  years  was  the  largest  peal  in  Eng- 
land. 

The  interest  attaching  to  the  sound  of  bells  is  felt  by  many.     De  Quincey  in  one 
of  his  essays  speaks  of  the  affecting  pleasure  it  was  to  him  to  take  a  walk  through 
the  country  at  night-time  and  listen  through  the  stillness  of  night  to  the  clocks  of 
the  different  Churches  around  striking  the  hours.     And  so  Milton  speaking  of  those 
things  which  minister  to  the  pleasure  of  pensive  musing  speaks  thus  : — 
"Oft  on  a  plat  of  rising  ground 
I  hear  the  far  off  curfew  sound 
Over  some  wide-water' d  shore, 
Swinging  slow,  with  sullen  roar." 

The  Gt.  Staughton  Bells  were  re-hung  and  quarter  turned  in  the  year  1901.  The 
expense  was  borne  by  public  subscription.  On  S.  Andrew's  Day,  Nov.  30th,  1901, 
there  was  an  opening  ceremony  to  celebrate  the  erection  of  the  old  font  on  a  new 
pediment  and  the  re-hanging  of  the  bells. 

In  reference  to  bells,  we  may  here  speak  of  the  clock  in  Gt,  Staughton  Church. 
This  by  those  who  understand  clocks  is  said  to  be  two  or  three  hundred  or  more  years 
old,  and  certainly  in  the  inventory  of  1640  in  the  Parish  Chest  one  of  the  items  in 
it  is  that  of  a  clock  existing  in  Gt.  Staughton  Church. 


60  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

Concerning  the  existence  of  clocks  in  parishes  we  may  quote  here  an  extract 
from  Dr.  Jessop's  "  Before  the  Great  Pillage,"  as  follows  : — 

"Edward  the  Third  (A.D.  1327-1377)  is  said  to  have  taken  great  interest  in 
clocks,  and  to  have  given  a  great  stimulus  to  their  general  introduction  in 
England." 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  there  seems  to  have  been  quite  a  mania 
for  setting  up  parish  clocks.  They  were,  doubtless,  clumsy  affairs,  and  they  were 
certainly  very  expensive  luxuries.  It  is  rare  to  find  any  parish  accounts  of  the 
fifteenth  century  without  finding  a  clock  mentioned. 

It  was  always  wanting  mending,  and  it  required  a  functionary  to  lock  after  it, 
who  usually  took  a  contract  for  a  year,  but  it  was  the  joy  and  pride  of  the  paiish. 

After  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  one  rarely  or  ever  meets  with  any 
allusion  to  the  clock  in  country  parishes.  "Why  ?  Not  only  because  the  parish 
funds  had  been  stolen  and  the  parish  income  had  disappeared,  but  because  in  the 
pillage  the  parish  bells  had  been  among  the  first  things  to  be  pulled  down  and  sold. 
So  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  days  there  were  no  bells  for  the  clocks  to  strike  on ! 

The  bells,  too,  were  a  constant  expense  to  the  parish  in  the  old  days.  They  were 
always  being  rung,  and  always  wanting  new  bell  ropes,  new  clappers,  and  new 
hanging.  Not  only  so,  but  in  the  incessant  use  to  which  they  were  put  day  and 
night,  the  bells  were  always  getting  cracked.  Then  there  was  a  new  bell  to  be  pro- 
vided, or  it  might  be  a  new  peal ;  but  so  self-supporting  were  the  parishes,  even  in 
"  the  very  country,"  that  there  was  never  any  difficulty  in  casting  a  new  bell. 

There  were  no  great  bell  founders  in  great  centres  of  industry  as  is  the  case  now. 
The  constant  demand  for  this  or  that  skilled  artificer  went  far  to  create  the  supply. 
The  bell  was  wanted,  and  somehow  it  was  made  on  the  spot,  or  by  some  cunning 
man  a  few  miles  off. 

To  carry  a  big  bell,  say  twenty  or  thirty  miles  over  such  roads  as  existed  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  would  be  a  very  serious  expense  indeed.  To  the  craftsmen  of 
those  days  it  was  a  much  easier  matter  to  make  the  bell  where  it  was  going  to  be 
hung  than  to  drag  it  along  up  hill  and  down  dale  at  the  serious  risk  of  breaking  it 
in  transit." 

Among  the  charities  in  Great  Staughton  is  a  piece  of  land  called  "The  Rell  Rope 
Charity,"  left  in  trust  to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  to  provide  new  bell  ropes, 
when  required,  for  the  bells. 


CHAPTER    XL 

The  Builders  of  our  Village  Churches.     Jessop  on  "  Art  in  our  Villages,1 
and  on  the  "  great  plllage."     edwardian  inventories  for  huntingdonshire. 


WE  have  seen  that  the  art  of  building  Churches  of  stone  was  introduced  into 
England  by  such  men  as  Abp.  Wilfred,  Benedict  Biscop,  Abp.  Theodore, 
Aldhelm,  S.  Dunstan,  and  that  Kings,  Princes,  and  wealthy  men,  raised  the  first 
buildings  where  our  great  Cathedrals  now  stand  ;  but  we  may  enquire  now  who 
were  the  builders  of  all  those  beautiful  Village  Churches  throughout  our  land  in  the 
13th  and  14th  centuries. 

In  answer  to  this  question  Dr.  Jessop  in  his  "  Before  the  Great  Pillage,"  says  : 
"  There  are  two  most  mischievous  and  widespread  mistakes  which  people  have  been 
making  for  the  last  two  or  three  centuries  with  regard  to  the  building  of  the  Parish 
Churches  in  England."  "  The  first  is  that  the  Monks  built  them.  The  second  is 
that  the  Great  Landowners,  the  Lords  of  the  Manor,  did  so."  Both  of  which  assc  r- 
tions  he  positively  denies.  With  regard  to  the  Monastic  bodies  he  says  :  "  That  the 
great  grievance  of  which  the  beneficed  Clergy  of  those  days  had  to  complain  was 
that  the  monasteries  robbed  the  parishes  of  their  endowments  by  having  their 
endowments  assigned  to  them,  so  that  the  monasteries  were  not  the  least  likely  to 
build  Churches  for  the  parishes."  And  with  regard  to  the  statement  that  the  Land- 
owners built  them  he  says  :  "In  the  13th  and  14th  centuries  there  were  no  Squires. 
In  the  great  majority  of  country  places  there  were  no  wealthy  men  to  be  found." 
And  in  answer  to  the  question  who  did  build  the  Churches,  he  says  :  "  The  Parishes, 
i.e.,  the  Parishioners  themselves  built  the  Churches,  and  the  Parishes  in  all 
cases  kept  them  in  repair." 

"  In  the  fourteenth  century  it  was  far  more  rare  for  a  Church  to  be  built  by  some 
rich  man  than  it  is  now,  just  because  the  number  of  rich  men  in  the  country  was  in- 
comparably smaller  than  it  is  now.  But  as  to  keeping  the  Churches  in  repair  the 
parish  had  no  choice  in  the  matter.  The  Bishops  and  the  Archdeacons  were  always 
looking  after  the  parishioners.  The  Episcopal  registers  are  full  of  instances  of 
Churches  that  are  ordered  to  be  enlarged,  re-roofed,  re-glazed,  re-built  after  a  fire, 
or  after  being  struck  by  lightning.  The  work  is  ordered  to  be  done  by  a  certain 
date  in  a  manner  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  Archdeacons,  and  though  it 
seems  impossible  that  it  could  be  done  by  them,  yet  it  was  done.'' 

Whence  then  came  the  funds  ?  Dr.  Jessop  says  :  "  Most  parishes  had  some  real 
property  in  land  and  occasionally  in  houses  too.      The  land  usually  consisted  of  a 


62  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 


number  of  small  and  scattered  parcels  of  land  which  had  been  left  to  the  community 
from  time  to  time,  or  made  over  to  them  by  well  disposed  parishioners,  and  were 
sometimes  held  under  conditions  of  providing  for  some  special  services  in  the 
Church.  Besides  this  it  was  not  at  all  uncommon  for  a  parish  to  be  possessed  of  a 
small  flock  of  sheep  :  and  many  parishes  owned  a  herd  of  cows,  usually  let  out  to 
farm  and  doubtless  to  the  highest  bidder." 

In  another  place  he  says  :  "  The  property  belonging  to  the  parishes  during  the 
centuries  before  the  great  spoliation  was  enormous  and  always  growing :  it  consisted 
of  houses  and  lands,  of  flocks  and  herds,  of  precious  jewels,  and  costly  vessels  of 
silver  and  gold  :  of  ornaments  and  church  furniture  :  of  bells  and  candlesticks, 
crosses  and  organs,  and  tapestry  and  banners  :  of  vestments  which  were  miracles  of 
splendour  in  their  colours  and  materials  and  of  incomparable  artistic  finish  of  needle- 
work, not  to  speak  of  the  fine  linen  and  the  veils,  the  carpets  and  the  hangings  :  and 
last  not  least,  the  service  books,  which  were  continually  needing  to  be  mended, 
bound  or  replaced  by  new  copies,  and  that  at  a  cost  which  we  moderns  even  now 
find  it  difficult  to  accept  as  credible."  "  And  this  property  was  always  growing  and 
increasing  in  its  value.  It  was  rare  for  any  man  or  woman,  of  substance  enough  to 
make  a  will,  to  forget  to  leave  some  sort  of  legacy  to  the  parish,  i.e.,  to  the  com- 
munity assembling  in  the  Church.  Never  a  year  passed  without  the  parish  accounts 
shewing  that  articles  of  dress,  brass  pots,  lamps,  candlesticks,  honey,  wax,  were 
left  by  the  poorest ;  sheep  and  cattle  and  lands,  great  goblets,  and  occasionally  con- 
siderable sums  of  money  being  bequeathed  by  the  well-to-do." 

These  facts  will  shew  us  whence  the  funds  came  for  repairing,  enlarging  or 
improving  the  Churches  when  circumstances  or  the  orders  of  the  Bishop  or  Arch- 
deacon required  them  to  do  so.  Also  they  shew  how  rich  the  Churches  were  in  all 
those  ornaments  which  added  so  much  to  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  the  various 
ceremonial  acts  of  public  worship. 

Now  we  come  to  the  question  what  became  of  all  the  wealth  which  the 
parishioners  had  accumulated  for  the  repairs  and  adornment  of  the  Church  they 
gloried  in,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  and  other  parochial  purposes. 

Henry  the  VIII  at  the  promptings  of  his  Minister,  the  infamous  Thomas 
Cromwell,  in  order  ostensibly  to  promote  the  reformation  of  religion,  but  in  reality 
to  establish  his  own  absolute  power  over  all  persons  ecclesiastical  or  civil  in  his 
dominions,  had  suppressed  the  monasteries  throughout  the  country,  and  taken  their 
property  into  his  own  treasury,  or  given  it  to  his  courtiers.  "  Thus  an  easy  means 
of  enriching  themselves  had  been  discovered  by  the  greedy  and  unscrupulous  agents 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  63 

of  Henry's  oppression,  and  having  thus  whetted  their  rapacious  appetites  by  the 
spoils  of  the  monasteries  they  proceeded  next  to  rob  the  parishes. 

In  the  ninth  and  last  Parliament  of  King  Henry  the  VIII  assembled  at  West- 
minster on  the  23rd  of  November,  1545,  the  great  Act  of  the  Session  was  an  Act  for 
the  dissolution  of  chantries,  hospitals  and  free  chapels.  It  was  enacted  that  all 
these  foundations  with  all  that  belonged  to  them  should  be  forthwith  surrendered  to 
the  King  during  the  term  of  his  natural  life,  without  inquest  before  a  Jury  or  any 
other  circumstances,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  colleges,  hospitals,  chantries  and 
free  chapels  were  falling  rapidly  to  the  King.  In  1547  Henry  VIII  died,  then  what 
had  been  granted  to  King  Henry  for  his  life-time  was  soon  granted  to  his  son 
Edward  VI. 

Proclamations,  injunctions,  orders  of  the  Council,  came  out  rapidly  having  the 
same  object,  the  plundering  of  all  corporate  property,  chantries  and  chapels  of  ease, 
hospitals,  colleges,  guilds,  all  were  handed  over  to  the  Crown.  The  spoil  of  the 
chantries,  hospitals  and  guilds  had  thus  yielded  a  great  amount  to  the  plunderers, 
but  while  there  was  more  to  gain  they  wished  to  have  it.  So  an  Act  was  passed  that 
all  such  books  heretofore  used  or  still  preserved  in  Churches  being  vain  and  super- 
stitious should  be  destroyed,  burnt,  or  otherwise  defaced. 

In  three  years  it  may  be  said  that  almost  all  the  Parish  Churches  in  England 
had  been  looted,  before  the  end  of  the  King's  reign  there  had  been  a  clean  sweep  of 
all  that  was  worth  stealing  from  the  parish  chests  or  the  Church  walls,  or  in  the 
Church  treasuries.  In  the  next  generation  there  were  Churches  by  the  score  that 
had  not  even  a  surplice,  there  were  others  that  had  not  even  a  chalice.  Nothing  was 
left  to  the  parish  community  but  the  bare  walls  of  the  Church  fabric,  stripped  of 
every  '  thing  of  beauty,'  on  which  the  eyes  had  delighted  to  rest.  No  Church  was 
allowed  to  retain  more  than  a  single  bell,  the  beautiful  art  of  campanology  almost 
died  out,  The  organs  were  sold  for  the  price  of  the  pipes,  the  old  music,  the  old 
melodies,  were  hushed." 

We  may  here  add  what  Dr.  Jessop  tells  us  as  to  the  workers  who  made  all  these 
beautiful  things  which  once  existed  in  our  Parish  Churches.  "The  evidence  is 
abundant  and  positive,  and  is  increasing  upon  us  year  by  year,  that  the  work  done 
upon  the  fabrics  of  our  Churches  and  the  other  work  done  in  the  beautifying  of  the 
interior  of  the  Churches,  such  as  the  wood  carving  of  our  screens,  the  painting  of 
the  lovely  figures  in  the  panels  of  those  screens,  the  embroidery  of  the  banners  and 
vestments,  the  frescoes  on  the  walls,  the  engraving  of  the  monumental  brasses,  the 
stained  glass  in  the  windows,  and  all  that  vast  aggregate  of  artistic  achievements 
which  existed  in  immense  profusion  in  our  Village   Churches   till   the  frightful 


64  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

spoliation  of  those  Churches  in  the  sixteenth  century  stripped  them  bare.  All  this 
was  executed  by  local  craftsmen. 

We  have  actual  contracts  for  Church  building  and  Church  repairing  undertaken 
by  village  contractors.  We  have  the  cost  of  a  Rood  Screen  paid  to  a  village 
carpenter,  of  painting  executed  by  local  artists.  We  find  the  names  of  artificers  or 
workers  in  gold  and  silver  living  in  a  parish  which  could  never  have  had  five 
hundred  inhabitants. 

We  find  the  people  in  another  place  casting  a  new  bell  and  making  the  mould 
for  it  themselves  ;  we  find  the  blacksmith  of  another  place  forging  the  ironwork  for 
the  Church  door,  and  we  get  a  payment  entered  for  the  carving  of  the  bench  ends  in 
a  little  Church  five  hundred  years  ago,  which  bench  ends  are  to  be  seen  in  that 
Church  at  the  present  moment.  And  we  get  fairly  bewildered  by  the  astonishing 
wealth  of  skill  and  artistic  taste  and  aesthetic  feeling  which  there  must  have  been 
in  this  England  of  ours  in  times  which  till  lately  we  had  assumed  io  be  barbaric 
times. 

This  all  came  to  a  dead  stop  in  a  single  generation  through  the  frightful 
spoliation  of  our  Churches  and  other  parish  buildings  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Sixth.  There  was  such  a  clean  sweep  of  the  precious  treasures  that  were  dispersed 
in  rich  profusion  over  the  whole  land  that  a  dull  despair  of  ever  replacing  what  had 
been  ruthlessly  pillaged,  crushed  the  spirit  of  the  whole  nation,  and  art  died  out  in 
rural  England,  and  ugliness  ruled  supreme  for  centuries." 


Having  now  seen  how  our  Churches  were  stripped  of  all  ornaments,  and  indeed 
with  the  exception  of  the  architecture  itself,  of  all  that  is  beautiful  in  art,  let  us 
enquire  what  evidence  we  have  of  what  ornaments  there  were  in  Great  Staughton 
Church  before  the  great  pillage  of  the  Churches,  and  of  this  we  learn  something 
from  the  "  Edwardian  Inventories  for  Huntingdonshire,"  printed  in  1906.  In  the 
preface  to  this  we  read  :  "  Enquiries  as  to  the  goods  of  Parish  Churches  were  made 
of  the  Bishops  in  1547,  and  early  in  1549  a  commission  for  making  inventories  was 
issued  to  Sheriffs  and  Justices  of  the  Peace.'" 

On  the  3rd  March,  1551,  it  was  ordered  by  the  Privy  Council  "  That  for  as  muche 
as  the  King's  Majestie  had  need  presently  of  a  masse  of  money,  therefore  commis- 
sions shoulde  be  addressed  into  all  Shires  of  England  to  take  into  the  King's  handes 
such  church  plate  as  remaigneth,  to  be  employed  unto  his  hignes  use."  This,  how- 
ever, was  not  done  immediately.  On  29th  January,  1552,  a  letter  was  addressed  to 
each  custos  rotulorum  requiring  the  delivery  of  the  inventories  which  had  been  made 
under  the  commissions  of  1549.     A  commission  to  make  new  inventories  and  stop 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  65 

all  private  embezzlement  was  issued  on  16th  May,  1552,  and  it  was  under  this  com- 
mission that  most  of  the  inventories  now  at  the  Public  Record  Office  were  taken.  A 
new  commission  was  issued  on  16th  January,  1553,  directing  the  seizure  of  all  their 
remaining  valuables,  only  the  barest  necessaries  being  left  for  the  use  of  each 
Church.  The  result  of  this  was  that  the  plate  was  sent  to  the  Jewel  House  in  the 
Tower  of  London  and  melted  down,  the  vestments  and  the  inferior  metal  work  were 
sold  locally,  the  linen  given  to  the  poor.  The  lead  and  bells  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  actually  taken. 


Edwardian  Inventories  for  Huntingdonshire,  p.  23,  1906. 

Inventory  of  1552  [Great  Staughton]  Magna  Stoughton  [this  inventory]  indentyd 
[made  the]  XXVIII  day  of  Julii  1552  between  Robert  Turwhit  and  other  the  Kings 
Majesties  Commissioners  for  Church  goodes  within  the  countie  of  Huntingdon]  in 
the  one  partie  and  Roger  Harrison,  Thomas  Barrons  and  Thomas  Peyt,  churche 
wardyns  of  all  mannour  goodes  and  ornaments,  &c. 

In     ....     ij  patentes  the  one  dubyll  geylt  the  other  parsell  geylt. 

item     ....     [cha]ngeabyle  checker  velvet. 

Item     ....     bawdkin. 

Item  vij  old  vestme[mts]. 

Item  x  awter  clothys. 

Item  a  crosse  of  coper  and  a  peyx  of  coper. 

Item  a  canopy. 

Item  a  crosse  clothe  of  greyn  seylk. 

Item  ij  frontes  for  the  awters. 

Item  in  the  stepul  iiij  belles. 

Item  one  sans  bell. 

Item  a  pay  re  of  sencre[o]  of  lattyn. 

And  we  the  sayd  commyssyoners  .  .  .  have  assyned  and  appointed  for  the 
devyne  survesis  to  be  menestered  in  thys  churche  of  Myche  Stoughton  of  the 
ornements  aforseyd,  both  the  challysys  with  their  patentes  iiij  awter  clothes  for  the 
communion  tabyll. 

[Signatures  as  above]. 

Edwardian  Inventories  for  Huntingdonshire  p.  39. 
List  of  Church  goods  sold  or  stolen  in  the  County  of  Huntingdon. 
Stoughton  Magna. 
Sold  by  Roger  Harrison,  Thomas  Barrowes  and   Thomas  Peyte,  Churchwardens 
ther,  with  the  assent  of  all  the  parishioners. 


66  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

VII  stonn  of  latten  and  brasse. 

iij  olde  candellstickes,  one  hollywater  stoppe  of  brasse  for  xijs. 

Edwardian  Inventories  p.  44. 
Magna  Stoughton. 

A  bill  of  all  soche  money,  as  hath  been  leyde  owte  and  lent  to  the  Churchwardens 
of  the  sayde  paryshe  of  Moche  Stoughton  towerdes  the  reparacions  of  the  sayde 
Churche  as  ensuyeth  Imprimis,  lent  by  Oliver  Leder  esquire,  for  and  towerd  the 
reparacions  of  the  same  [churche  for]  and  the  setting  up  of  the  roof  of  the  same 
chnrche,  viz.  :  to  Myddelton  of  Kymbolton  carpenter  xxs,  more  in  tymber  delyveryd 
by  the  sayd  Olyver  to  the  sayde  Churchwardens  towerd  the  repayring  thereof  price 
xxs  more  payd  by  him  to  the  sawyers  for  sawing  of  the  same  tymber  xiiis.  iii']d. 

Summa  liijs.  iiijd. 

Item,  lent  by  Thomas  Pytte  to  the  said  Churchwardens  for  and  towerd  the 
repayring  of  the  same  churche  in  redy  money  and  bestowed  in  reparacions  of  the 
same  churche  as  shall  appere  by  a  bill  of  parcels  by  the  Churchwardens  at  all  tymes 
to  your  worshipers  or  elsewhere  ready  to  be  showen.  vijZi.  vs.  viijd. 

Item,  lent  by  Mr.  Walton,  in  redy  money  to  the  Churchwardens,  and  bestowed  in 
reparacions  of  the  same  churche  as  shall  appere  by  their  bill  of  parcels    Summa  xxs. 

Item,  lent  Raphe  Carpenter  of  Gaynes  to  the  Churchwardens  for  and  to  the 
reparacions  of  the  same  churche  iijli. 

Item,  more  levyed  and  gathered  amonges  the  residew  of  all  the  saide  paryshyoners 
the  repayring  of  the  said  church  ij£i. 

Item,  lent  and  dysbursed  by  Roger  Harres  to  the  repayring  of  the  same  vli. 

Summa  xxli  xixs. 

And  we  the  sayd  Churchwardens  of  the  said  Church  of  Moche  Staughton  with 
the  consent  of  all  the  paryshioners  there  ar  redy  to  prove  that  the  rooff  of  the  sayd 
Church  fell  downe  to  the  grounde  this  last  yere  past.  The  repayring  whereof  cost 
above  xl?i  and  the  Churche  ys  yet  indebted  the  foresayd  some  of  xxviiZi  (sic)  xixs 
over  and  above  the  great  charges  that  the  sayd  paryshioners  have  borne  towerd.  the 
repryring  of  the  sayd  Churche  for  the  payment  wher  [of  they]  dyd  prayse  all  the 
sayd  vestymentea  and  other  parcelles  and  praysed  them  to  the  uttermoste  value  .  . 
will  not  discharge  the  sayd  debt  by  xxi  nobles  the  belles  reservyd.  Wherefore  the 
sayd  [Churchwardens]  humble  wyse  beseacheth  your  discrete  wysdomes  that  they 
may  have  libertye  to  make  [sale  of  such  as  may]  be  conveniently  sparyd  and  to 
reserve  such  parcells  as  must  needes  serve  for  the  myn[istering  of  divine  service] 
within  the  sayd  Churche,  and  thus  in  the  reverens  of  God,  and  the  way  of  Ch .     . 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Invbntory  of  Church  Furniture  in  Great  Staughton  Church  in  1640. 

Inventory  of  Church  Furniture  in  1915. 

List  of  Stained  Glass  Windows  in  Great  Staughton  Church,  1915. 


I  N  tbe  Parish  Chest  kept  in  the  Church  there  are  several  volumes  of  Church- 
^-  wardens'  accounts  :  some  of  these  have  been  carefully  preserved  and  bound 
by  Capt.  Jas.  Duberly,  when  Churchwarden  in  185-1 ;  there  is  one  for  the  period  be- 
tween 1637  and  1744.  On  page  4  there  is  an  inventory  of  Church  goods  and  other 
property,  with  which  the  Churchwardens  stood  charged  in  1640,  the  Churchwardens 
at  that  time  being  Edmund  Ibbot  and  Ralph  Paine.  We  give  below  the  principal 
items  :— 

1. — Imprimis.     Five  great  bells  hanging  in  the  steeple,  and  one  little  bell  hang- 
ing between  the  church  and  the  chancel. 
2.— Item.     One  clock  and  all  the  parts  and  furniture  thereof  standing  in  the 

bellfry. 
3. — Item. — One  great  new  bible  of  the  last  translation,  and  one   communion 

book. 
4. — One  book  of  Bp.  Jewels  works. 
5. — One  book  of  canons. 
6. — One  book  entitled  God  and  the  King. 
7. — Two  books  appointed  for  the  fast  in  1635. 
8. — Two  books  do.  of  thanksgiving  appointed  for  the  fast  1636.     And  two  books 

for  the  fast  for  the  year  1628,  March  20th. 
9. — Item.     One    register    book  in    parchment    Christenings,    Weddings    and 

Burials. 
10. — Item.     Two  books  for  the  inserting  of  the  yearly  accounts  of  the  church- 
wardens being  written  up  and  one  new  book  for  the  same  [purpose]. 
11. — Item.     A  communion  cup  of  silver,  and  one  pewter  flagon,  for  the  use  of  the 

Sacraments,  one  linen  cloth  for  the  communion  table. 
12. — Item.     Two  surplices,  with  large  sleeve. 

13.— Item.      A  .     .     .  linen  cloth  to  keep  the  cup  and  tablecloth  therein. 
14. — Item.     One  cushion  of  needlework  to  lay  upon  the  pulpit. 


68  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 

15. — Item.     One  other  cushion  of  velvet  for  the  pulpit  given  by  Mrs.  Baldwin  at 

Easter  1630. 
16. — Item.     One  pulpit  standing  in  the  church  having  a  cover  over  the  same,  and 

an  hour  glass. 
17. — Item.     One  chest  having  3  locks  and  3  keys. 
18. — Item.     A  table  of  the  ten  commandments. 
19. — Item.    An  old  table  of  the  degrees  of  marriage  and  an  old  table  of  weights 

and  measures. 
20. — Item.     A  new  table  (made  in  March  1639)  for  a  communion  table,  standing 

in  the  Chancel. 
Then   comes  a  list  of  fittings  of  bells,  Sexton's  tools  and  sundry  other  like 
articles. 

There  is  also  a  list  of  the  charities  of  the  parish. 
This  inventory  is  signed  by 

Lo  :    Dyer  Thos  :    Baldwin 

John  Baldwin  John  Gaule 

Nath  :   Lawrence  John  Spencer 

and  by  eight  others  whose  names  are  difficult  to  decipher. 

We  have  seen  from  the  above  inventories  how  rich  the  Church  must  once  have 
been  in  Church  furniture  and  ornaments  ;  and  we  have  seen  also  how  all  these  were 
swept  away  in  the  great  pillage  :  and  we  also  see  from  the  last  inventory,  what  a 
meagre  supply  of  such  articles  the  Church  possessed  in  the  middle  of  the  17th 
century.  Since  this,  however,  in  quite  recent  times  there  has  been  a  great  revival 
of  Church  life,  also  of  taste  in  the  arrangement  and  adornment  of  our  Churches,  and 
in  the  ordering  of  her  services. 

Since  the  great  Oxford  Movement  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Englishmen  have  learnt  to  regard  the  Church  as  a  building  designed  for  the  worship 
of  God,  and  therefore  that  it  ought  in  its  arrangements,  its  dignity,  and  its  beauty 
to  look  worthy  of  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed.  The  Churches  therefore 
first  have  been  put  in  good  repair,  and  those  things  which  hid  or  disfigured  their 
architectural  beauties  removed.  And  then  by  the  general  arrangement  of 
their  fittings,  they  have  been  made  to  look  as  places  where  the  people  met  together 
to  join  in  united  prayer  and  praise  and  to  make  use  of  those  sacraments  which  Christ 
has  especially  ordained  to  be  used.  And  then  next  there  has  been  made  in  the 
present  day  a  bountiful  provision  of  all  those  necessary  vessels,  cloths,  robes  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  69 

clergy  and  like  articles  for  the  seemly  celebration  of  the  sacraments,  and  the  other 
offices  of  the  Church. 

The  following  is  an  inventory  of  Church  furniture,  ornaments  and  other  articles 
for  use  in  the  Services  of  the  Church,  made  in  the  year  1915  : — 

Plate,  etc. 

A  Chalice,  Paten,  and  Alms  dish,  of  Silver,  presented  by  C.  Walter,  Esq.,  in 
1750,  in  memory  of  his  wife,  Sophia. 

A  small  Chalice. 

Another  Chalice. 

A  larger  Paten,  of  Silver,  for  use  on  the  Credence  Table,  presented  in  1910  by 
W.  H.  Pope,  Esq.,  and  Sophia  Anne,  his  wife,  of  Pertenhall. 

Two  Silver  mounted  Cruets,  presented  in  1909,  by  the  Rev.  C.  McN.  Rushforth. 

A  Glass  Decanter  for  Wine,  and  a  Glass  Water  Cruet. 

A  small  glass  dish,  with  I.H.S,  on  it,  presented  by  Mrs.  Sophia  Anne  Pope. 

An  Altar  Cross  of  Brass,  and  two  Altar  Candlesticks  of  Brass,  presented  in  1894. 

Two  old  brass  candlesticks,  formerly  on  the  Reading  Desk. 

A  brass  extinguisher. 

Six  flower  vases  of  Brass. 

A  book  stand  of  Brass  for  the  Altar. 

Altar  Cloths,  etc. 

A  Frontal  of  green  silk  embroidered  with  orphreys  of  old  Italian  work. 

A  Frontal  of  white  silk  gold  embroidered,  with  orphreys  of  passion  flowers. 

A  Frontal  of  violet  silk  gold  embroidered,  with  orphreys  of  passion  flowers,  all 
three  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Sophia  Anne  Pope. 

A  Frontal  of  red  silk,  with  red  velvet  orphreys,  and  ornamented  with  applique 
work,  the  gift  of  Rev.  C.  McN.  Rushforth,  and  altered  at  Mrs.  Pope's  expense. 

A  Frontal  of  black  silk,  with  white  orphreys,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Sophia  Anne  Pope. 

Ten  Alms  bags,  two  white,  two  green,  four  red,  two  violet. 

Eighteen  Bookmarkers  of  silk,  four  white,  four  green,  six  red,  and  four  violet. 

Two  Clergy  Surplices,  Choir  Surplices,  Twenty  Seven  Cassocks. 

A  Chalice  Veil  and  burse  of  white  silk,  gold  embroidered. 

A  Chalice  Veil  and  burse  of  red  silk. 

A  Chalice  Veil  and  burse  of  violet  silk. 


70  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

A  Chalice  Veil  and  burse  of  black  silk,  all  four  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Sophia  Anne 
Pope. 

A  Chalice  Veil  and  burse  of  red  silk,  embroidered,  and  set  with  pearls. 

A  Chalice  Veil  and  burse  of  green  silk,  embroidered,  both  the  gift  of  the  Rev. 
C.  McN.  Rushforth. 

A  large  handsome  damask  cloth  for  the  Altar. 

Another  smaller  damask  Cloth. 

A  fair  linen  Cloth,  lace  edged,  for  the  Altar. 

Another,  without  lace  edging. 

Another  larger,  fringed  at  the  ends,  all  three  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Sophia  Anne  Pope. 

Another,  the  gift  of  the  Rev.  H.  G.  Watson. 

Three  Cloths  for  the  Credence  Table,  two  fringed,  one  plain. 

Four  Corporals. 

Four  Veils  for  use  after  the  Consecration— 

One  of  lawn,  lace  edged  |  aR  three  the  gift  of 

One  of  lawn,  with  I  H.  3.  in  the  centre  j        Mrg  gophia  Anne  Pope 

One  of  linen,  lace  edged  ' 

One  of  linen,  lace  edged,  embroidered  with  ears  of  wheat  and  vine  leaves,  the 
gift  of  Rev.  C.  McN.  Rushforth. 

Purificators,  some  fringed,  some  marked  with  a  cross  in  the  centre,  some 
marked  with  a  cross  in  the  corner. 

Four  Palls,  one  embroidered  with  vine  leaves,  the  gift  of  Rev.  C.  McN.  Rush- 
forth. 

One  with  a  large  I.H.S.  in  the  centre. 

Two  with  a  small  I.H.S.  in  the  centre. 

In  the  Chancel. 

An  Altar  of  oak,  made  by  Edward  Webster,  of  S.  Neots,  1754,  and  purchased  by 
the  parish. 

An  oak  slab  for  the  same,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Sophia  Anne  Pope,  1911. 

Two  retables  of  wood. 

A  brass  desk,  "Presented  to  S.  Andrew's  Church,  Gt.  Staughton,  by  some  of  the 
children  of  the  Parish,  October  1894." 

The  Altar  book,  Presented  to  Gt.  Staughton  Church  by  some  of  the  children  of 
the  Parish  1894. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  7! 

A  Credence  Table. 

A  Sanctuary  Chair  of  Oak. 

A  Sanctuary  Carpet,  and  three  Kneelers,  of  Persian  work,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Sophia 
Anne  Pope. 

Two  Standards,  three  branched,  presented  by  the  Congregation. 

Three  Kneelers  of  woolwork  for  the  Communicants. 

Communion  Rails  of  Oak. 

Two  strips  of  Red  Matting  for  the  Chancel  floor. 

Two  Clergy  Desks  with  Seats,  Two  Desks  for  the  Choir,  and  two  other  desks. 

Two  desks  of  wood  and  iron  with  benches,  and  one  without. 

Four  Kneelers. 

An  Organ,  given  by  Miss  Emma  Murfin  and  Mrs.  Julia  Powers  in  memory  of 
their  brother. 

An  Iron  Stove. 

An  Iron  Fire  Screen  to  protect  the  Communion  Rails. 

In  the  Church. 

A  Litany  Desk  of  Oak. — "To  the  glory  of  God  in  Loving  memory  of  Caroline 
Firman  born  October  4th  1857  died  Oct.  6th  1904." 

The  Litany  Book,  presented  to  the  Church  by  Mrs.  Watson,  Whitsuntide  1904. 

A  red  Hassock  for  the  same. 

Two  Desks. 

A  Lectern  and  Footpace  of  Oak,  with  a  Mat  of  Woolwork. 

Twelve  hanging  Lamps  of  Copper,  and  one  of  other  metal. 

Ten  lamps  fixed  to  the  Walls. 

Two  wooden  Shutters  varnished,  for  the  doors  of  the  Rood  Staircase. 

An  Alms  Box  of  wood,  brass  bound. 

An  Ancient  Font,  restored  in  1901,  of  stone,  lined  with  lead. 

The  Prayer  Book  in  Reading  Desk. — Presented  to  Gt.  Staughton  Church  by 
Hugh  WTynne  and  Ellen  Grey  Mostyn,  June  19th,  1891. 

A  smaller  Font  of  stone,  lined  with  lead — disused. 

A  Brass  Ewer  for  the  Font. 

A  Shell  of  Mother  of  Pearl  for  baptizing,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Pope. 

A  Chest  of  Oak  with  Three  Locks,  standing  at  the  West  End  of  the  North  Aisle. 


72  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

Two  Wire  Doors. 

Two  Bier  Stools. 

A  Hymn  Board  given  in  memory  of  George  Howlett,  1893. 

Three  Curtains  for  the  doors,  and  two  for  the  Tower  Vestry. 

A  Board  for  Notices  in  the  Porch. 

Two  Doormats  and  two  Scrapers. 

A  Screen  of  Oak  for  the  Tower  Vestry,  made  partly  of  the  panels  of  an  old  pulpit, 
partly  of  an  ancient  Pew. 

An  old  Clock. 

Two  Benches  under  the  Tower. 

Two  Iron  Stoves. 

A  Thermometer. 

Twelve  Brass  Pegs,  and  Twenty  four  Iron  Pegs  under  the  Tower,  for  Cassocks 
and  Surplices. 

A  Pulpit  of  oak,  given  in  memory  of  Miss  Elizabeth  Murfin,  carved,  with  a  double 
candlestick  of  brass,  and  a  red  carpet  on  the  stairs  with  brass  rods. 

Some  Fragments  of  Window  Tracery,  Gravestones,  and  other  fragments,  formerly 
lying  in  the  Vicarage  Grounds,  and  brought  down  to  the  Church  in  1910. 

A  Board,  with  a  list  of  Benefactions,  1812. 

In  the  Vestry. 

A  Hanging  Wardrobe,  with  Drawer  and  Tray.  (In  the  Drawer  are  the  two  brass 
candlesticks,  already  referred  to,  formerly  on  a  Reading  Desk,  and  some  fragments 
of  old  stained  glass  partly  from  the  East  Window,  partly  from  the  Window  on  the 
South  Side  of  the  Sanctuary). 

A  Cupboard,  with  two  Drawers. 

A  Table,  with  two  Drawers. 

A  Frontal  Case. 

A  Box,  with  Rollers,  for  the  Fair  linen  Cloths. 

A  small  Box,  containing  some  numbers  for  the  Hymn  Board,  of  tin. 

Three  chairs,  a  wooden  bench,  and  some  cocoanut  matting. 

A  Fender,  fire  irons,  and  wire  fireguard. 

An  oil  lamp,  and  two  brass  candlesticks. 

A  Picture  of  the  Crucifixion. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  73 

A  Banns  Book. 

An  old  China  basin,  formerly  used  for  Baptisms. 
An  Iron  Safe,  containing  at  present : — 
A  Register  Book  from  1538  to  1653. 
„      1653  to  1701. 
„     1701  to  1747. 
„  „        ,,      1747  to  1802,  and  various  other  Registers. 

A  flag.     The  Cross  of  St.  George. 
The  Flag  of  England. 
Presented   to   the   Church  by  Mrs.  Powers,  and  hoisted  on  the  Tower  on 
S.  George's  Day  and  other  Great  Church  or  National  Festivals. 

A  List  of  Stained  Glass  Windows  in  the  Church. 

1. — The  East  Window.  This  is  a  window  put  into  the  Church  in  October,  1900, 
v  by  Edward  Robotham,  of  Staughton  House,  in  memory  of  his  wife,  Frances 
Cox  Robotham.  The  design  consists  of  five  figures,  the  central  one  being 
of  the  Saviour,  and  the  other  figures  are  of  the  four  Apostles  :  S.  Peter, 
S.  James,  S.  John  and  S.  Andrew.  S.  Andrew  being  the  Saint  to  whose 
memory  the  Church  is  dedicated.  The  Saviour  has  in  his  hand  a  book  on 
which  are  written  the  words  :  "lam  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.1' 
Underneath  the  window  is  this  inscription  :  "  To  the  glory  of  God  and  in 
loving  remembrance  of  Frances  Cox  Robotham  of  Staughton  House,  this 
window  is  erected  by  her  husband.     A.D.  1900." 

2. — On  the  South  wall  of  the  Chancel  there  is  a  window  erected  to  the  memory 
of  Emma  Murfin,  a  benefactress  of  the  Church  and  parish,  by  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Powers.  The  subject  of  the  window  is  Dorcas,  and  around  her  are 
the  weeping  widows  shewing  the  coats  and  garments  which  Dorcas  had 
made.  The  inscription  below  the  window  is  as  follows  :  "To  the  Glory  of 
God  and  in  loving  memory  of  Emma  Murfin  born  Dec.  3rd  1847  died  Jan. 
4th  1907." 

3. — At  the  West  end  of  the  South  Aisle  is  a  window  put  in  by  the  late  Mr. 
Thomas  Henry  Murfin,  father  of  the  above  Emma  Murfin,  in  memory  of  his 
wife,  Elizabeth  Murfin.  The  design  of  the  window  is  a  central  figure  of 
the  Saviour,  with  two  figures  of  Mary  and  Martha,  one  on  each  side  of  him, 
and  the  inscription  below  is  as  follows  :    "To  the  glory  of  God  and  in 


74  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 


loving  memory  of  Elizabeth  the  wife  of  Thomas  Henry  Murfin,  who  died 
June  3rd  1872." 

4. — The  window  next  to  this  is  to  the  memory  of  the  Revd.  James  Pope, 
formerly  a  Vicar  of  Gt.  Staughton,  erected  by  his  two  grandchildren, 
William  Pope,  and  Sophia  Anne,  his  wife,  March  31st,  1901.  The  subject 
of  the  window  is  our  Saviour  sitting  in  a  boat,  and,  just  after  the  first 
miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  giving  to  S.  Peter  his  commission  :  "  Fear 
not,  from  henceforth  thou  shalt  catch  men."  Underneath  the  window  is 
this  inscription  :  "  To  the  glory  of  God,  and  in  memory  of  the  Revd.  James 
Pope  B  D.  25  years  Vicar  of  this  parish,  born  at  Hillingdon  Oct.  10th  1756 
died  at  Great  Staughton  Jan.  9th  1822." 

5. — The  window  next  to  this  is  one  to  the  memory  of  William  Stephen  Watson, 
to  whose  memory  a  brass  tablet  is  also  placed  on  the  North  wall  of  the 
Chancel,  he  was  the  son  of  a  Vicar  of  this  parish,  and  this  was  erected  by 
a  friend  on  Dec.  23rd.  1901,  the  first  anniversary  of  his  death.  The  sub- 
ject of  it  is  the  Saviour  addressing  Mary  and  Martha  after  the  death  of 
their  brother  Lazarus,  and  saying  :  "  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again."  Under 
the  window  is  an  inscription  as  follows  :  "  To  the  Glory  of  God  and  in 
loving  memory  of  Wiliam  S.  Watson  died  Dec.  23rd  1900  c.c." 

6. — In  the  West  window  in  the  Tower  is  placed  a  stained  glass  window  to  the 
memory  of  Thomas  Henry  Murfin,  who  placed  the  window  on  the  West  of 
the  South  Aisle  to  the  memory  of  his  wife  Elizabeth.  This  is  a 
fine    window    of    four    lights.  The    subject    of    the    window    is    as 

follows:  "Various  incidents  of  the  life  of  S.  Andrew.  The  central 
subject  is  a  group  of  Our  Blessed  Lord,  with  the  four  Apostles, 
on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  looking  down  upon  the  Temple,  S.  James  and 
S.  John  are  sitting,  S.  Peter  faces  Our  Lord,  while  S.  Andrew  occupies 
the  left  hand  light.  Underneath  are  the  Latin  words  "  Respondens 
Jesus  coepit  dicere  illis  Videte  ne  quis  vos  seducat,  Evan.  Sec  Marc.  cap. 
xiii,  5."  (Jesus  answering  them  began  to  say,  Take  heed  lest  any  man 
deceive  you.  Gospel  according  to  S.  Mark  ch  xiii  5).  In  the  lower  portion 
of  the  window  are  depicted,  on  a  smaller  scale,  the  chief  events  connected 
with  the  Call  of  S.  Andrew.  The  first,  beginning  from  the  South,  is  a 
representation  of  S.  John  the  Baptist,  pointing  out  Our  Lord  as  the  Christ 
to  two  of  his  disciples,  S.  Andrew  and  S.  John.  "  Looking  upon  Jesus  as 
He  walked,  he  saith,  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God."  (S.  John  i,  36).  The  next 
light  represents  the  two  disciples  following  their  newly-found  Master,  and 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  75 

in  answer  to  His  question  "  What  seek  ye  ?  "  answering  "  Rabbi,  where 
dwellest  Thou"  (S.  John  i,  38).  The  third  light  shews  S.  Andrew  finding 
his  brother  Simon  (who  holds  an  oar  in  his  hand),  and  telling  him  the  joy- 
ful news,  "  We  have  found  the  Messias"  (S.  John  i,  41).  The  fourth  light 
shows  S.  Andrew  and  S.  Peter  in  their  fishing  boat,  while  Our  Lord  is 
standing  on  the  shore,  with  uplifted  hand,  calling  them  to  the  Apostleship, 
"  Come  ye  after  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  to  become  fishers  of  men."  The 
inscription  underneath  the  window  is  as  follows:  "To  the  glory  of  God 
and  in  loving  memory  of  Thomas  Henry  Murfin  who  died  March  12th  1885 
aged  67."  The  window  was  designed  and  erected  by  Messrs.  Clayton  and 
Bell,  and  dedicated  on  Whit-Sunday,  1890. 
-Another  window  is  that  in  the  North  light  of  Gaynes  Chapel,  and  it  is  to  the 
memory  of  Capt.  James  Duberly,  of  Gaynes  Hall,  and  was  erected  by  his 
widow,  and  is  also  in  memory  of  their  eldest  child,  aged  12  years.  It  has 
this  inscription  :  "  James  Duberly  of  Gaynes  Hall,  died  March  3rd  1864 
aged  74  years.  This  memorial  is  erected  by  his  widow  in  loving  remem- 
brance, and  in  memory  also  of  their  eldest  son  Frederic  James,  who  died 
Dec.  4  1851  aged  12  years.     A.D.  1870." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

List  of  Parish  Charities  in  Great  Staughton  in  1812,  1865,  1915. 


A  S  Dr.  Jessop  says  :  "  The  property  belonging  to  the  parishes  during  the 
€  /%  centuries  before  the  great  spoliation  was  enormous,"  but  nevertheless  this 
^^  ^was  all  swept  away  by  the  Crown  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII  and 
Edward  VI.  Since  then  a  certain  amount  of  property  has  gradually  accumulated 
to  the  parish,  and  apparently  at  the  present  time  is  increasing.  We  here  enquire 
what  is  it  at  the  present  time  ?  On  the  wall  of  the  Church  Tower,  where  the  Choir 
assembles  to  put  on  their  surplices,  there  hangs  a  board,  on  which  is  painted  a 
list  of  the  Parish  Charities  as  they  existed  in  the  time  of  the  Rev.  James  Pope.  The 
following  is  what  we  read  thereon  : — 

1812. 

Benefactions 

For  the  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  poor  belonging  to  Great  Staughton. 

I. 

A  parcel  of  land  containing  12a.  2r.  16p.  lying  in  Staughton  Moor,  the  gift  of 
Mr.  Jno  :  Peachley  in  1728. 

II 

Two  cottages  situated  in  Agden  Green  with  a  piece  of  Land  lying  near  them  con- 
taining la.  25p.     The  gift  of  Lady  Conyers  in  1707. 

Benefactions  to  the  Poor  of  Great  Staughton. 

I. 

Four  bushels  of  Wheat  and  ten  of  Barley.     The  Rectory  Estate  now  belonging 
to  General  Onslow  is  subject  to  this  payment. 

II. 

A  parcel  of  land  containing  24a.  3r.  37p.  lying  in  Town  Field,  the  gift  of  Mr. 
Geo.  Carter,  of  London,  in  1674. 

III. 

A  tenement  on  Agden  Green  with  two  closes  adjoining  3a.  3p. 

IV. 
A  legacy  of  £20  left  by  Mr.  Edward  Shadbolt  in  1806  for  the  benefit  of  poor 
widows. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  77 

V. 

A  legacy  of  £20  left  by  Mrs.  Rachel  Johnson,  late  of  Cambridge,  in  1809,  for  the 

benefit  of  the  poor  of  Dillington. 

The  particulars  of  the  above  benefactions  are  deposited  in  the  town  chest. 

Jas.  Pope,  Vicar. 

John  Smith,         1   „,       ,        , 
a     t.     u      loin  t        TT  i   Churchwardens. 

September,  1812.  Jno.  Hoerell,     J 


1865. 

Again  we  have  another  account  of  the  Charities  in  1865,  when  the  Rev.  H.  B. 
Wilson  was  Vicar.  In  the  book  of  the  Trustees  at  that  time,  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  present  Trustees,  we  read  as  follows  :  — 

In  1865,  the  then  Vicar  of  Great  Staughton,  the  Rev.  H.  B.  Wilson,  the  Church- 
wardens and  the  Overseers  for  the  time  being,  who  were  the  Trustees  of  the  Great 
Staughton  Charities,  made  application  to  the  Charity  Commissioners  to  draw  up 
regulations  for  their  management,  which  the  Commissioners  accordingly  did,  and 
they  appointed  as  Trustees  of  the  Charities  the  Vicar,  the  Churchwardens,  and  the 
Guardians  of  the  Poor  of  the  Parish  for  the  time  being.  The  Guardians  were  thus 
made  Trustees  instead  of  the  Overseers. 

The  lists  of  the  Charities  at  that  time  were,  as  it  appears  from  the  Trustees' 
books,  as  follows  :  — 

1.  The  Town  Field  Charity. 

2.  The  School  Charity. 

3.  The  Poor's  Estate. 

4.  The  Rectory  Dole. 

5.  The  Edward  Shadbolt's  Charity. 

6.  The  Rachel  Johnson's  Charity. 

7.  The  Church  Land  Charity. 

8.  The  Bell  Rope  Charity. 

(1)  Of  these  Charities  first  comes  the  "Town  Field  Charity."      This  is  No.  II  in 

Mr.  Pope's  list  of  benefactions  to  the  poor  of  Gt.  Staughton.      It  consists  of  a 
piece  of  land  called  the  Town  Field,  24a.  3r.  37p.  in  size. 

(2)  Next  comes  what  is  called  the  School  Charity.     This  consists  of  12a.  2r.  16p.  at 

Staughton  Moor,  and  also  three  cottages  at  Agden  Green.  This  is  (I)  and  (II) 


78  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

of  Benefaction  for  the  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  poor  on  Mr.  Pope's 
list. 

(3)  "  The  Poor's  Estate."     This  consists  of  4a.  12p.  and  four  cottages  at  Agden 

Green. 

(4)  "  The  Rectory  Dole."     This  is  a  rent  charge  on  the  Staughton  House  Estate, 

and  is  of  the  value  of  4  bushels  of  Wheat  and  10  bushels  of  Barley. 

(5)  "  Edward  Shadbolt's  Charity."      This  is  the  sum  of  £20,  and  this  is  deposited 

in  the  Post  Office  Savings  Bank  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees. 

(6)  "Rachel  Johnson's  Charity."     This  is  an  annual  payment  of  18/-  to  be  paid 

out  of  the  Poor's  Estate  No.  (3)  above. 

Ecclesiastical  Charities,  viz.  : — 

(7)  ]  rood  22  poles  at  Staughton  Moor  and  1  rood  24  poles  at  Agden  Green.     This 

is  called  Church  Lands  Charity. 

(8)  "  The  Bell  Rope  Charity."     This  consists  of  2  acres  35  poles  in  Town  Field. 
By  the  scheme  drawn  up  by  the  Charity  Commissioners  in  1865,  it  was  ordered 

that  the  income  derived  from  the  Church  Land  and  Bell  Rope  Charities  should  be 
paid  to  the  Churchwardens  for  the  repair  of  the  Church  and  for  providing  Bell 
Ropes.  That  £7/16/0  per  annum  should  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  bread,  to  be 
distributed  weekly  amongst  the  deserving  poor  widows  of  the  parish.  That  the  sum 
of  18/-  per  annum  was  to  be  applied  to  the  benefit  of  deserving  poor  widows  residing 
in  the  hamlet  of  Dillington.  This  is  the  Rachel  Johnson  Charity.  That  thirteen 
shillings  should  be  applied  to  the  benefit  of  deserving  poor  widows  residing  in 
Great  Staughton.  This  is  called  Edward  Shadbolt's  Charity.  That  the  sum  of  £25 
per  annum  should  be  applied  to  the  benefit  of  the  most  deserving  and  necessitous 
inhabitants  of  the  Parish  of  Gt.  Staughton  ;  this  is  derived  from  the  Town  Field 
Charity  and  the  Poor's  Estate. 

In  this  scheme  it  was  also  ordered  that  after  the  above  sums,  amounting  in  all  to 
£34/7/0,  had  been  paid  to  the  poor,  and  after  the  income  of  the  Church  Lands  and 
Bell  Rope  Charities  had  been  paid  to  the  Churchwardens  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Church,  the  residue  of  the  income  of  the  Charities  should  be  paid  to  the  School. 
This  payment  to  the  School  was  then  made  in  accordance  with  the  directions  of  the 
Charity  Commissioners,  until  such  time  as  the  School  became  a  Board  School.  At 
that  time  the  School  became  dependent  on  the  rates  for  its  maintenance.  And  in 
the  scheme  of  1865  it  was  especially  directed  that  the  income  of  the  Charities  was 
not  to  be  applied  in  lieu  of  rates.  The  Trustees  then  considered  that  on  this  ground 
the  payment  should  no  longer  be  made  to  the  School.     But  in  1907  the  Charity 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  79 

Commissioners  sent  another  order  to  the  Trustees,  directing  that  the  annual  balance 
in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees,  after  the  above  specific  payments  had  been  made, 
should  again  be  paid  to  the  School.  Accordingly  in  1909  this  balance  was  paid  to 
the  County  Council  for  the  benefit  of  Gt.  Staughton  School.  But  here  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  a  change  had  been  made  in  the  administration  of  the  Charities  by  the 
Parish  Councils  Act  of  189-1. 

In  1812,  when  the  List  of  Gt.  Staughton  Charities  was  made  and  exhibited  in 
the  Church  by  the  then  Vicar  and  Churchwardens,  the  old  Poor  Law  was  in  opera- 
tion, and  by  that  Law  each  Parish  provided  for  its  own  poor,  and  under  those 
circumstances  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  of  the  Parish,  together  with  the  Over- 
seers of  the  Poor  of  the  Parish,  were  the  natural  Trustees  of  Charities  for  that 
Parish.  But  after  the  introduction  of  the  New  Poor  Law,  the  poor  were  provided 
for  by  a  number  of  Parishes  united  together,  and  the  administration  of  relief  was 
managed  by  Guardians  of  the  Poor  elected  by  the  Parishes  in  each  Union.  This  be- 
ing the  case,  the  Guardians  of  the  Poor  in  Gt.  Staughton  were  substituted  for  the 
Overseers  as  Trustees  of  the  Charities  of  Gt.  Staughton.  But  again,  after  the  Parish 
Councils  Act  of  1894  came  into  operation,  the  District  Councillors  elected  by  each 
parish  took  the  place  of  Guardians,  and  instead  of  Churchwardens  for  those  Charities 
which  were  not  Ecclesiastical  Charities,  two  persons  were  to  be  elected  by  the  Parisli 
Council  to  be  Trustees  of  Parish  Charities,  and  the  incumbent  of  the  Parish  for  the 
time  being  was  to  continue  still  as  the  one  ex-officio  Trustee.  Thus  the  Trustees  of 
the  Charities  (which  are  not  Church  Charities;  are  by  the  Parish  Councils  Act  as 
follows  : — 

The  incumbent,  the  two  District  Councillors  elected  by  the  Parish  Council,  and 

the  two  persons   especially  elected  by  the  Parish  Council  as  Trustees  of  the 

Charities. 

The  Trustees  then  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Pope  were  the  Vicar,  the  Churchwardens 
and  the  Overseers.  When  the  New  Poor  Law  came  into  operation,  they  were  the 
Vicar,  the  Churchwardens  and  the  Guardians,  and  when  the  Parish  Council  Act 
came  into  operation  they  were  the  Vicar,  the  two  Trustees  elected  by  the  Parish 
Council,  and  the  two  District  Councillors. 

The  Murfin  Charity  in  1907. 

There  is  now  in  this  parish  another  Charity  called  the  Murfin  Charity.      This  is 

a  legacy  to  the  parish  by  the  late  Miss  Emma  Murfin,  to  whose  memory  the  stained 

glass  window  in  the  South  wall  of  the  Chancel  is  erected. 

(1)  This  Charity  consists  of  £200  left  to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  in  1907  for 

tuning,  warming  and  keeping  in  good  repair  the  organ  in  the  Church,  given 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


by  Miss  Murfin  and  her  sister  (Mrs.  Powers)  to  the  Church  in  memory  of 
their  brother  William. 

(2)  Also  the  will  of  Miss  Murfin  provided  that  £500  should  be  paid  to  the  Vicar 

and  Churchwardens  for  the  purpose  of  providing  coals,  blankets  and  bread  to 
the  poor  inhabitants  of  the  parish  on  December  3rd  (the  birthday  of  Miss 
Murfin). 

(3)  Also  it  provided  that  after  the  death  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Powers  an  additional  sum 

of  £1500  should  revert  to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  of  Gt.  Staughton  to 
be  used  for  the  same  purposes  as  the  above  £500. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  will  of  Miss  Murfin  in  reference  to  these 

legacies   as   furnished  to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  by  the  Solicitors  of  the 

Executors  of  the  will : — 

"  Miss  Emma  D.  Murfin  bequeathed  to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  for  the 
time  being  £200  to  be  held  by  them  and  their  successors  in  office  on  trust  to 
invest  the  same,  and  to  apply  the  income  to  arise  therefrom  for  tuning,  warming 
and  keeping  in  repair  and  good  condition  the  organ  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Great 
Staughton  aforesaid  ;  and  to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  for  the  time  being  of 
the  parish  aforesaid  the  sum  of  £500  on  trust  that  they  and  their  successors  in 
office  shall  hold  the  same  in  trust  to  apply  the  income  thereof  in  the  purchase  of 
coals,  blankets  and  bread,  to  be  distributed  on  the  3rd  day  of  December  in  every 
year  to  such  poor  inhabitants  of  the  Parish  of  Great  Staughton  as  the  Vicar  and 
Churchwardens  of  Great  Staughton  aforesaid  for  the  time  being  shall  in  their 
unfettered  discretion  select.  And  the  Testatrix  by  her  will  directed  to  be  paid  to 
the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  of  the  Parish  of  Great  Staughton  aforesaid  after  the 
death  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Powers  the  sum  of  £1500  upon  trust  that  they  and 
their  successors  in  office  shall  hold  the  same  upon  the  same  and  like  trusts  as 
were  thereinbefore  of  and  concerning  the  sum  of  £500  thereinbefore  bequeathed 
to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  for  the  time  being  of  that  Parish." 

The  School. 

In  the  list  of  Parish  Charities  as  they  existed  in  the  time  of  the  Revd.  James 
Pope,  we  find  that  benefactions  for  the  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  poor 
belonging  to  Great  Staughton  were  made 

(1)  by  Mr.  Jno  :  Peachley  in  1728  of  a  parcel  of  land  containing  12a.  2r.  16p.  lying 

on  Staughton  Moor. 

(2)  by  Lady  Conyers  in  1707  of  two  cottages  situated  in  Agden  Green  with  a  piece 

of  land  lying  near  them  containing  la.  25p. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  8t 

Directions  as  to  the  disposal  of  the  funds  fiom  these  properties,  as  we  see  above, 
were  given  by  the  Charity  Commissioners  in  1865  and  1907.  As  to  this  School  we 
have  not  found  any  permanent  record.  But  there  are  traditions  that  there  was  a 
School  at  Perry  at  one  time  in  an  old  house,  now  pulled  down,  about  the  entrance  to 
Perry,  of  which  the  Master's  name  was  Sharman.  Also  that  there  was  a  little  School 
at  Dillington  in  a  thatched  cottage,  the  ruins  of  which  were  till  recently  standing 
there,  and  that  it  was  kept  by  a  woman  named  Saunders.  This  existed  in  the  time 
when  Mrs.  Mostyn  (the  daughter  of  Captain  James  Duberly,  of  Gaynes  Hall)  was  at 
home.  Mrs.  Mostyn  and  her  sister  used  to  visit  the  School,  the  boys  were  taught  to 
read  and  the  girls  to  make  lace. 

There  are  traditions  also  that  this  School  existed  in  1786.  An  old  parishioner 
now  living  in  Great  Staughton  reports  that  his  grandmother,  named  Fanny  Coleman, 
the  daughter  of  Arthur  Coleman,  the  head  gardener  at  Gaynes,  told  him  that  "  she 
recollected  being  fetched  unexpectedly  home  from  this  School  in  1786,  because  her 
father,  Arthur  Coleman,  had  dropped  down  dead."  The  Epitaph  on  the  grave  of 
Ooleman  and  the  registers  bear  testimony  to  the  correctness  of  these  particulars. 

Then  again  we  have  the  tradition  that  the  building  where  the  Sunday  School  is 
now  held  was  in  1838  used  as  the  Parish  School,  and  the  Vestry  of  the  Church 
was  at  the  same  time  also  used  as  a  Writing  School. 

We  have  in  the  Charity  Trustees'  books  an  account  of  payments  being  made  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  School  at  Staughton  Moor  up  to  a  very  recent  date.  But  in 
1872,  when  the  Education  Act  came  into  operation,  the  present  School  buildings 
were  erected  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  Education  Department  on  a  site  given 
to  the  Vicar  and  Churchwardens  of  Great  Staughton  by  Mr.  Denzil  Onslow,  of 
Staughton  House,  for  the  purpose  of  the  Parish  School.  When  this  School  was 
started  the  others  necessarily  came  to  an  end,  though  for  some  time  a  separate 
School  was  maintained  for  the  children  at  Perry  in  a  building  belonging  to  the 
Duberly  family,  now  standing  there. 

The  New  School,  as  the  parishioners  were  unwilling  to  subscribe  so  that  it  might 
become  a  Church  School,  was  from  the  first  a  Board  School,  maintained  and  con- 
ducted by  the  Great  Staughton  School  Board.  Again  when  the  County  Council  Act 
came  into  operation  the  School  was  transferred  to  the  County  Council ;  the  Vicar 
and  Churchwardens  letting  it  to  the  Council  at  a  nominal  rent. 

The  Master  and  Mistress  at  the  present  time  are  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pearson,  they  have 
been  at  Staughton  23  years. 

The  Reports  from  the  Education  Department  on  the  condition  of  the  School  are 
always  "  Excellent." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Gaines   Hall.      The   Manors    of   Dillington   and   Perky.      The    Engaines. 

The  Barnaoks.      The  Stonhams.     Wm.  Howard,  of  Effingham. 

The  Marchioness  of  Winchester.     The  Cheynes.     Sir  Thomas  Lake. 

The  Beverleys.     The  Handasydes.     The  Duberleys  (see  next  Chapter). 


jT\N  a  hiU  to  the  North  East  of  Great  Staughton  Church  and  distant  from  it 
^\J  about  two  miles  stards  Gaines  Hall.  This  was  probably  the  Hall  or 
Court  House  of  the  Manor  oi  Dillington  ;  and  it  takes  its  name  from  a 
family  who  were  Lords  of  this  Manor  from  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror  for 
300  years,  viz.  :  the  Engaines.  The  first  Baron  d'Engaine  was  the  first  Officer  who 
superintended  the  Conqueror's  Military  Engines,  from  which  office  (de  Ingeniis)  he 
took  the  name  of  de  Engaine. 

Dillington,  a  little  cluster  of  houses  below  the  hall  that  gives  its  name  to  the 
Manor,  was  according  to  Stubbs,  the  township  of  the  Dillings,  i.e.,  of  those  persons 
named  Dilling  who  were  or  were  supposed  to  be  all  related  to  one  another. 

Gaines  Hall  still  has  the  remains  of  two  or  three  moats  around  it  thus  showing 
that  it  was  once  a  fortified  dwelling.  The  dwelling  of  the  Chief  of  the  township, 
who  afterwards  became  the  Lord  of  the  Manor. 

Of  the  Manor  of  Dillington  we  read  in  Domesday  Book  as  follows  :  "  In  the 
Manor  of  Dillington  the  Abbot  of  Ramsey  hath  six  hides  that  paid  geld.  There  is 
land  for  12  ploughs,  and  10  Villeins  who  have  10  ploughs.  There  are  12  acres  of 
meadow,  wood  for  pannage,  one  mile  and  two  furlongs  long  and  one  mile  broad.  In 
time  of  King  Edward  its  value  was  six  pounds,  and  it  is  now  four  pounds." 

The  earliest  record  that  we  have  of  this  Manor  is  that  it  was  given  by  a  certain 
Widow  Leofwine  to  Ramsey  Abbey  in  the  tenth  century,  and  that  this  gift  to  the 
Abbey  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  charters  of  King  Edgar  (974),  King  Edward  the 
Confessor  and  William  the  Conqueror. 

The  gift  of  Dillington  with  the  Church  was  confirmed  by  a  .Bull  of  Pope 
Alexander  III  in  1178.  The  foundations  of  a  Church  at  Dillington  may  still  be 
traced  in  that  place. 

Part  of  the  Estate  of  Gaines  Hall  lies  in  the  little  Village  of  Perry,  which  is 
partly  in  the  Parish  of  Great  Staughton  and  partly  in  the  Parish  of  Grafham. 

Of  the  Manor  of  Perry  we  read  in  Domesday  Book  as  follows  :  "In  Perry  (Perie) 
Alwyn  Deule  (Alwin  Deule)  had  I  hide  paying  geld.     There  is  land  for  II  ploughs. 


"THE     BROOK." 

FROM    A    FHOTOCRAFH    BY    MR.    HERBERT    C.    WATSON. 


TO    FACE    PACE    LXXXIII. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  83 

There  is  now  in  demesne  I  plough  and  a  half,  and  VI  villeins  with  I  plough.  There 
is  a  Church  and  3  acres  of  meadow  woody  pasture  I  mile  and  IIII  ....  broad. 
In  the  time  of  King  Edward  and  now  worth  XL  shillings."' 

We  bear  of  the  Manor  of  Dillington  being  held  at  the  end  of  the  11th  century  by 
one  Ranulf  who  rendered  for  it  the  service  of  one  knight  to  serve  the  King  on  behalf 
of  the  Abbot  of  Ramsey. 

The  first  Norman  Lord  of  the  Manor  was 

(1)  Richard  de  Engaine  who  came  over  with  the  Conqueror,  and  who  took  his 

name  (as  is  supposed)  from  his  office,  and  gave  the  name  of  Gaines  to  the 
house  ;  the  family  had  land  in  other  parts  of  the  Kingdom.  And  we  have 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  their  possessions  in  Essex  from  the  name  of  the 
Village  "  Colne-Engaine,"  not  far  from  Castle  Hedingham,  the  residence  of 
the  Earls  of  Oxford,  with  which  family  the  Engaines  were,  later  on,  allied. 
The  date  of  his  death  was  probably  early  in  the  12th  century.  Richard  was 
succeeded  by  his  son, 

(2)  Vitalis  Engaine.     This  seems  to  have  been  a  family  name.      The  date  of  his 

death  was  about  1122.     He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Richard. 

(3)  Richard  Engaine  is  said  to  have  married  Sara,  daughter  of  Alberic  de  Vere, 

first  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  also  to  have  married  a  second  time.  He  died  in  1166 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Richard. 

(4)  Richard  Engaine  is  the  Engaine  that  married  Margaret,  d.  of  Fitzurse,  and 

died  in  1208.     He  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 

(5)  Vitalis  Engaine.     This  is  the  Vitalis  Engaine  to  whom  the  following  licence 

was  given  by  Bishop  Grostete,  of  Lincoln  :  "  With  the  consent  of  Geoffrey  de 
Mandeville,  Knight,  patron  of  the  Church  of  Staughton,  and  Rad  :  Rector  of 
the  Church,  he  (i.e.,  the  Bishop)  grants  and  by  these  his  present  letters  con- 
firms to  Sir  Vitalis  Engaine  and  his  heirs  to  have  in  perpetuity  a  Chapel  in 
his  Hall  with  font  and  stoups,  bell  and  service  by  his  own  Chaplain."  The 
date  of  this  grant  is  1238  or  1239.  Vitalis  Engaine  died  in  121$,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Henry. 

(6)  Henry  Engaine  married  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Robt.  Fitzpayne,  and  he  died  in 

1252,  leaving  no  children,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  John. 

(7)  John  Engaine  married  the  daughter  of  Rich,  de  Lizmer,  by  whom  he  had  two 

children,  John  and  Nicholas.  This  is  the  John  Engaine  who  held  the  Manor 
of  Gidding  on  condition  of  hunting  the  wolf,  the  fox,  the  wildcat,  the  hare  in 
four  counties  and  a  half,  viz. :  of  Northampton,  Huntingdon,  Oxford.  Buck- 
ingham and  Rutland.     He  died  in  1296,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John. 


84  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

(8)  John  Engaine  married  Elena and  died  in  1323,  leaving  no  children, 

and  was  succeeded  by  the  son  of  his  brother  Nicholas,  viz. :  his  nephew  John. 

(9)  John  Engaine  married  Johanna,  daughter  of  Robert  Peverel,  and  had  five 

children,  John,  Thomas,  Jocasa,  Elizabeth  and  Maria.  He  was  a  Member  of 
Parliament  in  13h2.     lie  died  in  1359,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John. 

(10)  John  Engaine  died  in  1365,  leaving  no  children.      He  was  a  Knight  at  Calais 

in  13U8,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Thomas. 

(11)  Thomas  Engaine  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  Hugh  Courtenay,   Earl  of 

Devon,  and  widow  of  John,  Lord  Harrington.  He  was  never  sent  to  Parlia- 
ment, was  made  a  Knight  at  Calais  131/8,  died  in  1369,  left  no  children,  was 
succeeded  by  his  sister  Mary,  who  married  William  Barnack. 

(12)  William  Barnack  by  marriage  to  Mary  Engaine,  succeeded  to  Gaines  in  1369, 

and  after  the  death  of  Mary  Barnack  in  1400,  William  having  died  before 
her,  she  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 

(13)  John  Barnack,   who   died   in  1410,   and   was   succeeded    by  another   John 

Barnack,  his  son. 

(14)  John  Barnack,  who  married  Ann  Noon,  died  in  1420,  and  left  a  daughter  as 

his  heiress  named  Mary,  she  married  Robert  Stonham. 
Thus  the  Manor  of  Dillington  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Engaines  from  the  middle 
of  the  11th  century  to  the  middle  of  the  14th  century.  Then  in  1369  it  passed 
through  the  female  line  into  the  Barnack  family  and  continued  in  that  family  till 
1420,  and  then  again  it  passed  into  the  Stonham  family.  Mary  Barnack  married 
Robert  Stonham. 

In  Camden's  Visitation  of  Great  Staughton  (1613)  we  find  an  inscription  spoken 
of  as  existing  in  the  Church  as  follows  : — 

"  Here  lies  Robert  Stonham  Esquire  and  Mary  his  wife,  which  said  Robert  died 

the  27th  day  of Barnack  Knight  died  the  23rd  day  of  the  month 

of  September  A.D.  1464.     May  God  have  mercy  on  their  Souls. " 
We  do  not  find  this  inscription  in  the  Church  now  ;  but  there  is  in  the  Chancel 
on  the  floor  the  matrix  of  a  brass  that  has  been  removed,  which  might  have  answered 
to  such  an  inscription  as  this.     At  all  events  we  learn  from  this  record  that  Mary, 
daughter  of  John  Barnack,  and  wife  of  Robert  Stonham,  died  in  1464. 

(15)  Robert  Stonham  was  succeeded  by  a  son, 

(16)  John  Stonham  (who  left  a  daughter  Elizabeth)  died  about  1455.     Elizabeth 

Stonham  married  John  Broughton. 

(17)  John  Broughton  died  about  U87,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  85 

(18)  John  Broughton  married  Anne,  daughter  of  John  Denston,  and  was  succeeded 

by  his  son  Robert. 

(19)  Sir  Robert  Broughton  died  about  1505,  left  four  children,  John,   Catherine, 

Anne,  Margaret.     He  was  succeeded  by  his  son. 

(20)  Sir  John   Broughton   married   Ann,   daughter  and   heiress  of  Sir  Guy   de 

Sapcote.  Sir  John  Broughton  died  without  family  1529.  Gaines  appears  to 
have  gone  to  his  sister  Catherine.  His  wife  Ann,  daughter  of  Sir  Guy  de 
Sapcote,  after  Sir  John's  death  married  Sir  John  Russell,  afterwards  the  first 
Earl  Bedford.  She  built  the  Mausoleum  at  Chenies,  which  came  by  her  to 
the  Russell  Family.     She  died  in  1555. 

(21)  Catherine  Broughton,  sister  of  the  above  Sir  John  Broughton,  married  Lord 

William  Howard  of  Effingham.  (The  father,  by  a  second  wife,  of  the  famous 
Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  who  defeated  the  Spanish  Armada).  There  was 
a  daughter  and  heiress  of  Lord  William  Howard  and  Catherine  his  wife 
named  Agnes.  She  married  William  Paulet,  Lord  S.  John,  afterwards 
Marquis  of  Winchester. 
{22)  Lord  William  Howard  of  Effingham,  through  his  wife  Catherine,  succeeded 
to  the  Manor  of  Gaines,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  daughter  Agnes. 

(23)  Agnes  Howard,  Marchioness  of  Winchester,  let  Gaines  to  Sir  Oliver  Crom- 

well, of  Hinchingbrooke,  for  21  years,  he  sublet  it  to  Richard  Cromwell  after 
the  death  of  Agnes  Marchioness  of  Winchester  in  1598.  Gaines  appears  to 
have  passed  to  Anne,  her  aunt,  another  daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Broughton. 

(24)  Anne  Broughton  married  Sir  Thomas  Cheyne,  of  Kent,  and  thus  the  Gaines 

Manor  passed  to  the  Cheyne  family.  The  Cheyne  family  are  descended  from 
a  William  de  Cheney,  who  in  the  time  of  Edward  I  married  the  heiress  of 
the  Shurland  family.  The  Cheyne  family  had  a  good  deal  of  property  in 
Bedfordshire,  and  married  into  all  the  old  families.  There  are  a  large 
number  of  quarterings  in  the  Cheyne  Coat  of  Arms.  Sir  Thomas  Cheyne 
was  succeeded  in  the  Gaines  property  by  his  son  Henry. 

(25)  Sir  Henry  Cheyne,  of  Todington,  married  Joan,  daughter  of  Geo.   Neville, 

Lord  Bergavenny.  He  died  leaving  no  family.  The  property  was  then  sold 
and  bought  by 

(26)  Sir  Thomas  Lake  in  1607,  and  then  again  was  bought  by 

(27)  Sir  James  Beverly,  who  was  knighted  in  1660.     He  bought  the  estate  for 

£16000.  He  died  in  1670,  aged  66.  He  was  buried  in  Great  Staughton 
Church  and  his  tomb  is  in  Gaines  Chapel  in  that  Church. 


86  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

The  Beverleys  were  an  old  family  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  15J/.6,  at  the  time 
of  the  dissolution  of  Monasteries,  the  property  of  the  confraternity  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  at  Luton  was  granted  to  Robert  Beverly.  In  1563  Thomas  Beverly  had  a 
Manor  at  Eaton  Socon.  In  163-1  James  Beverly,  of  Clophill,  was  Sheriff  of  the 
County  of  Bedford  the  8th  year  of  Charles  I. 

The  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Sir  James  Beverly  in  Great  Staughton  Church  is 
as  follows  : — 

In  memoriam  D.D.  Jacobi  Beverleii  Militis 

Qui  summa  Numinis  reverentia 

Virtute  omni  sevenore 

Necnon  beneficentia  effusissima  et  vere  Christiana 

Honoratissimus 

Divinae  tamen  bonitatis  in  Christo  Salvatore 

Fiducia  sublimiori  fretus, 

Ad  Deum  aspiravit  anima, 

Corpore  quiete  et  cum  spe  inpulverem  hunc  subsidente 

November  17th  Ann  :  Gratia?  1670 

Aetatis  Sua?  66. 

[translation.] 

To  the  memory  of  Sir  James  Beverley,  Knight, 

Who  for  his  great  reverence  for  God 

And  for  his  strict  obedience  to  every  virtue 

And  for  his  never  failing  and  truly  Christian  generosity 

Was  held  in  the  Highest  Esteem. 

Yet  he  with  deepest  faith  in  Christ  his  Saviour 

Relied  only  on  the  goodness  of  his  God, 

The  longings  of  his  Soul  went  forth  unto  God, 

While  his  body  was  sinking,  in  Peace  and  Hope, 

Into  the  Grave, 

November  17th  in  the  year  of  Grace  1670 

Aged  66. 

The  next  family  we  hear  of  in  connection  with  Gaines  Hall  is  the  family  of  the 
Handasyde.     We  find  in  the  Vicar's  Memorandum  Books  in  1717, 

(28)  General  Handasyde  was  paying  tithe  for  Gaines,  and  from  the  Monument  in 
Gaines  Chapel  we  learn  that  this  General  Handasyde  was  some  time  Governor 
of  Jamaica,  and  that  he  died  in  1729,  aged  84. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  87 

He  was  succeeded  in  the  property  by 

(29)  General  Roger  Handasyde,  who  was  Governor  of  Berwick-on-Tweed  in  1745. 

In  connection  with  the  date  1745  (the  year  of  the  rising  under  the  young 
Pretender)  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  this  General  Roger  Handasyde  was 
Governor  of  Berwick  at  that  time  when  the  discomfited  Royalists  after  their 
defeat  at  Preston  Pans  took  refuge  in  Berwick-on-Tweed. 
From  the  Vicar's  Memorandum  Books  we  learn  that 

(30)  Dr.  Handasyde  was  the  next  owner  of  the  Estate. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  to  the  memory  of  this  family  of  the  Handasydes : 

This  Monument 

Is  erected  in  memory  of 

Major  General  Thomas  Handasyde 

Who  for  many  years  was 

Governor  of  Jamaica. 

He  died  the  26th  March  1729 

In  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age 

Much  lamented 

Having  been  the  best  of  Fathers 

And  the  best  of  Friends. 

Here  also  lies  the  body  of  the 

Honble.  Genl.  Roger  Handasyde 

Eldest  Son  of  the  above  Thos.  Handasyde,  who  died  Jany.  the  4th  1763  aged  78.   He 

was  general  in  chief  of  all  his  Majesty's  foot  forces,  was  formerly  Governor  of 

Berwick  in  the  rebellion  in  1745  who  during  his  many  years  disinterested  Service 

shewed  his  great  skill  in  military  affairs  and  his  zeal  and  attachment  to  the  present 

Government. 

He  died  greatly  lamented  by  all  who  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance. 

Here  lieth  also  Mrs.  Ann  Proby  sister  to  the  late  General  Handasyde,  who  died 

December  6th  aged  80. 

(To  be  continued  in  next  Chapter). 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Duberly  Family.     Mural  Tablets  in  Gaines  Chapel. 
Mural  Tablets  in  other  parts  of  the  Church. 


I  HE 


HE  next  family  of  whom  we  have  record  as  being  in  possession  of  Gaines  Hall 
is  the  Duberly  Family,  the  present  owners. 

(31J  This  property  was  purchased  by  Sir  James  Duberly  in  1797.     He  died  in  1832 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Captain  James  Duberly. 

(32)  Captain  James  Duberly  served  under  Wellington  in  the  Peninsular  War  and 

was  present  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  He  died  in  1864.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son, 

(33)  Captain  William  Duberly  of  the  Grenadier  Guards.      He  died  in  1888  at  the 

early  age  of  47.  He  married  the  Hon.  Rosa  Sandys,  youngest  daughter  of 
Lord  Sandys  of  Ombersly,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Major  Grey 
Duberly. 

(34)  Major  Duberly  was  in  1st  Grenadier  Guards,  the  regiment  of  his  father,  and 

has,  we  regret  to  say,  just  recently  been  killed  in  action  on  March  13th  (1915) 
in  the  operations  around  Neuve  Chappelle.  Major  Duberly  was  in  South 
Africa  during  the  whole  of  the  Boer  War.  He  was  present  at  the  battles  of 
Belmont,  Grasspan,  Modder  River,  Magersfontein,  Pardeburgand  Drietfontein. 
Then  he  went  to  Bloemfontein,  Johannesburg,  Pretoria  and  Komati  Poort,. 
afterwards  taking  part  in  the  column  and  blockhouse  campaign  under  Gen. 
French  and  Gen.  Inigo  Jones.  He  was  with  Col.  Crabbe's  column  for  six 
months.  He  carried  out  the  duties  of  Transport  Officer  to  the  3rd  Grenadier 
Guards  with  great  credit  for  18  months  and  was  mentioned  in  despatches  by 
Lord  Roberts  for  conspicuous  service.  His  Queen's  War  Medal  has  the 
Belmont,  Modder  River,  Drietfontein,  Johannesburg,  Diamont  Hill  and  Belfast 
clasps.     He  also  received  the  King's  War  Medal. 

Gaines  Chapel  in  Great  Staughton  Church. 

In  this  Chapel  there  are  several  memorial  tablets  of  different  families  connected 
with  Gaines  Hall. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  89 

List  of  Mural  Tablets. 

1.  Sacred 

To  the  memory  of 

Emily  Hannah  Duberly, 

Widow  of 

James  Duberly 

of  Gaynes 

and  daughter  of  Col.  the  Honble.  W.  Grey 

She  died  30th  March  3883 

aged  67 

"  Thy  Will  be  done  " 

This  tablet  is  erected  by  her  loving  children. 

2.  In  memory  of 
Charles  Conrad  Grey  Duberly, 

Son  of  James  Duberly, 

of  Gaynes 

and  Emily  his  wife 

Who  died  at  Colmworth 

Dec.  27th  1873 

From  the  effects  of  a  fall  while 

Hunting  with  the  Oakley  Hounds. 

3.  In  memory  of 

Ethelred 

Widow  of  Sir  James  Duberly  Kt. 

of  Gaynes  Hall  in  this  Parish 

and  daughter  of  Charles  St.  Barbe  Esqr. 

of  Lymington  Hants. 

She  died  at  Leamington  in  Warwickshire 

on  the  5th  of  October  1859 

aged  73 

and  was  buried  at  Shrawley  Worcestershire, 

This  tablet  is  erected  by  her  four  children. 

Ethelred  Vernon,  wife  of  Edward  Vernon,  Esq, 

of  Shrawley  Worcestershire. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  George  Duberly  late  61th  Regt. 

The  Revd.  Charles  Duberly,  Rector  of  Wolsingham 

County  of  Durham. 

Major  Henry  Duberly  of  the  8th  Hussars. 


90  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON, 

4.  In  memory  of 

Caroline  who  died  on  the  28th  May  1812 

aged  6  months,  also  of 
Emily  who  died  on  the  4th  of  May  1819 

aged  6  months,  both 

Daughters  of  Sir  James  Duberly  Knight 

also  of 

Sir  James  Duberly,  Knight 

of  Gaynes  in  this  parish 
He  died  the  25th  of  May  1852 

aged  74  years 

Their  remains  are  interred  in 

the  North  West  Corner 

of  this  Church. 


5.  "  Peace  be  still." 

Placed  here 

In  memory  of 

Cecil  Vesey  Duberly  1878 

Louisa  Lady  Sandys  1886 

William  Duberly  1888 

by  an  affectionate 

Mother,  Daughter,  Wife 

Rosa  Duberly 

1889. 

The  above  are  the  inscriptions  on  the  mural  tablets  to  the  memory  of  members 
of  the  Duberly  family  in  the  Gaynes  Chapel. 

There  are  monumental  memorials  in  the  Chapel  to  Sir  James  Beverley.  Also  to 
the  memory  of  Generals  Thomas  and  Roger  Handasyde,  of  which  we  have  given  an 
account  in  a  former  Chapter.  Also  in  the  account  of  stained  glass  windows  there  is 
the  inscription  to  the  memory  of  Captain  James  Duberly  and  Frederic  his  son,  in  a 
window  in  this  Chapel. 

Near  to  Gaynes  Chapel  on  [North  wall  of  Church  is  a  memorial  to  a  faithful 
servant.     The  following  is  the  inscription  : — 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  91 

6.  In  memory  of 

Robert  Moulton 

For  21  years  faithful  Friend 

and  Servant  to 

William  and  Rosa  Duberly 

Died  March  1895. 

Above  (6)  is  a  similar  memorial  to  a  servant  of  the  family  : — 

7.  To 
Martha  Empleton, 

From 
Rosa  Duberly. 
Father,  in  Thy  Gracious  keeping 
Leave  we  now  Thy  Servant  sleeping. 
1912. 
On  the  same  wall  near  to  this  is  a  recently  placed  carved  marble  slab  to  the 
memory  of  a  son  of  Col.  Duberly,  of  Bedford,  who  died  quite  young  in  command  of 
an  important  post  in  the  Sudan,  and  this  monument  was  dedicated  by  the  Bishop  of 
Khartum,  who  was  in  England  soon  after  his  death.    The  inscription  is  as  follows  : — 

8.  In  ever  loving  memory  of 

James  Duberly, 

Captain  Royal  Berkshire  Regiment, 

eldest  son  of  Lieut.  Colonel  Arthur  Duberly  and  Ida  his  wife, 

and  grandson  of  James  Duberly,  Esq.,  of  Gaynes, 

Born  March  14th,  1882, 

Died  February  9th,  1912,  at  Meridi,  Sudan,  while  attached  to  the  Egyptian  Army. 

He  served  in  the  South  African  Campaign,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  Civil 

Inspector  at  Meridi.     A  good  soldier,  able  administrator,  and  beloved  comrade,  his 

death  was  deplored  by  all  his  friends. 

"  Rest  beloved." 

On  the  same  wall  close  to  the  North  Door  is  a  memorial  to  Colonel  Henry  Duberly  : 

9.  In  Loving  Memory  of 

Lt.  Colonel  Henry  Duberly 

(8th  Hussars)  Youngest  Son  of  the  Late 

Sir  J.  Duberly  of  Gaynes  Hall  in  this 

Parish  :  Who  died  at  Leckhampton 

Gloucestershire,  19th  January  1890,  Aged 

68.     This  Tablet  is  erected  by  His  Widow. 

St.  John  xiv,  1,  2. 


92  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  North  Door  is  a  memorial  marking  the  site  of  a 
Dormitory  removed  in  1866  :  — 

10.  This  Dormitory 

was  erected  at  the  sole  charge  of 

Sir  James  Duberly  Knt. 

of  Gaines  in  this  Parish 

by  the  Authority  of  a  Faculty 

Granted  the  4th  of  July  1812. 

He  died  the  25th  of  May  1832 

Aged  74  years 

And  His  Remains  are  deposited  herein. 

The  Above  named  Dormitory 

was  taken  away  in  a  General 

Restoration  1866. 

Next  to  this  is  a  memorial  of  Staughton  men  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  South 
African  War : — 

11.  In  Memory  of 
Edward  Ernest  Cowley, 

Private,  Army  Medical  Corps. 

Arthur  James  Elmer. 

Private,  2nd  Battn.  Bedfordshire  Regt. 

William  Evans, 

Private,  5th  Battn.  King's  Royal  Rifles. 

Who  lost  their  lives  during  the 

South  African  War, 

1899-1902. 

There   are  four  other  mural  tablets   not  elsewhere   mentioned,   viz. :    in  the 

Chancel :   to  the  Spencers,  to  W.  S.  Watson.     On  the  Hymn  Board  :    to  George 

Howlett,  and  on  the  South  wall  of  the  Nave  to  the  wife  of  Major  Byrn.    They  are 

as  follows  : — 

(The  Spencer  memorial  is  let  into  the  South  wall  of  the  Chancel.) 

Here  lyeth  interd  Sarah  Spencer  the  vertuous 

Wife  of  John  Spencer,  with  Sarah  his  virgin  daughter 

Booth  soe  gracious  goodly  fay  re  and  courteous 

That  few  such  Sarahs  will  be  found  out  hereafter 

Praysed  thearfore  be  ye  great  God  of  Heaven  and  Earthe 

That  made  them  so  renowned  booth  in  life,  and  deathe. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  93 

12.  In  loving  memory 

of 

William  Stephen  Watson 

The  dearly  loved  Son  of 

The  Revd.  Henry  George  Watson 

Vicar  of  this  Parish 

Born  December  26,  1865 

Died  December  23,  1899 

At  Mossel  Bay  Cape  Colony 

In  hope  of  the  Resurrection  to  Eternal  life 

Through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

On  a  brass  plate  attached  to  the  Hymn  Board  is  a  memorial  to  George  Howlett : 

13.  In  Loving  Memory  of  George  Howlett 
Who  died  April  26th,  1893,  aged  36  years. 

Erected  by  His  Mother  and  His  Two  Brothers. 

On  the  wall  of  the  South  Aisle  :— 

14.  Sacred  to  the  memory  of 

Mrs.  Margaret  Byrn 
Wife  of  Major  John  Byrn 

of  Great  Staughton 

Who  in  the  bloom  of  youth 

was  sudenly  called  away 

to  meet  the  reward  of  her  virtues, 

has  left  a  disconsolate  family 

to  regret  her  loss, 

Departed  this  life  May  20th,  1791 

aged  33  years. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  History  of  the  Cromwell  Family, 


i  "TREAT  STAUGHTON  is  situated  in  what  may  be  called  the  Cromwell 
V-P--  Country  ;  it  is  in  the  County  of  Huntingdon,  not  far  from  Hinchingbrooke, 
Huntingdon,  and  Ramsey  Abbey. 

The  Cromwell  family  were  connected  in  many  ways  with  the  Parish  of  Great 
Staughton.  It  will,  therefore,  be  of  some  interest  and  use  in  considering  the  History 
of  Great  Staughton  to  know  something,  according  as  we  may  gather  it  from  Noble's 
Protectoral-House  of  Cromwell,  of  the  History  of  the  Cromwell  Family.* 

I. — The  Founder  of  the  family  of  Lord  Cromwell  and  also  of  the  Protectoral 
family  is  Thomas  Cromwell,  afterwards  Earl  of  Essex,  who  was  so  conspicuous  a 
figure  in  the  History  of  England  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

Thomas  Cromwell  was  the  son  of  Walter  Cromwell,  a  Blacksmith,  and  afterwards 
a  Brewer  at  Putney.  He  was  born  in  the  latter  half  of  the  15th  century,  the  exact 
year  is  not  known.  He  was  a  man  of  little  education,  of  great  abilities,  and  of  most 
unscrupulous  character.  He  comes  before  our  notice  first  as  the  attendant  and  agent 
of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  to  whom  he  was  most  useful  in  the  work  of  suppressing  some  of 
the  smaller  Monasteries,  whose  endowments  Wolsey  wanted  for  his  new  foundations 
at  Oxford  and  Ipswich. 

It  was  to  this  Cromwell  that  Wolsey  addressed  the  words  we  are  familiar  with  in 
Shakespeare  :  "  Cromwell  I  charge  thee  fling  away  ambition."  When  Cardinal 
Wolsey  fell  from  power,  and  others  forsook  him,  Thomas  Cromwell  remained  faith- 
ful, and  used  his  utmost  endeavours  to  save  him.  Having  obtained  permission  from 
Wolsey  he  went  up  to  London  to  see  the  King  for  the  purpose  of  pleading  his 
master's  cause.  The  result  of  this  interview,  as  far  as  Cromwell  was  concerned,  was 
that  the  next  day  he  entered  into  the  King's  service,  and  from  that  time  rose  rapidly 
into  favour,  and  was  promoted  gradually  from  one  post  to  another,  till  he  arrived  at 
the  highest  Offices  of  the  State.  In  1531  he  was  knighted.  In  1534  was  made 
Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  together  with  that,  held  several  other  high  offices  of  State. 
In  1539  he  was  made  Earl  of  Essex. 

*This  account  of  the  Cromwell  Family  is  given  as  it  is  found  in  Noble's  Protectoral-House 
of  Cromwell,  but  we  are  informed  that  the  accuracy  of  this  account  is  not  to  be  depended 
on. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON,  95 

Under  his  influence  and  advice,  Henry,  who  could  not  obtain  from  Rome  a 
divorce,  threw  off  all  allegiance  to  the  Pope  and  made  himself  supreme  head  of  the 
Church  in  England,  in  the  sense  not  only  as  being  the  Civil  Ruler,  but  also  as  hav- 
ing power  to  dictate  to  her  her  doctrines  and  ceremonies.  He  was  also  used  as 
Henry's  agent  for  ruthlessly  oppressing  and  crushing  the  Church.  He  was  made 
Vicar  General  of  the  Church  ;  and  all  the  larger  Monasteries  and  other  religious 
institutions  were  suppressed  with  circumstances  of  great  cruelty  ;  the  way  he  treated 
the  inmates  of  the  house  of  the  Carthusians  in  London  is  well  known  and  may  be 
read  in  Green's  History  of  the  English.  This  religious  house  was  especially  con- 
nected with  Great  Staughton,  because  the  endowment  of  the  living  was  appropriated 
to  it  on  its  foundation,  and  on  its  suppression  was  sold  to  Oliver  Leder,  of  Great 
Staughton. 

The  confiscation  of  all  the  Church  property  at  that  time  brought  enormous  funds 
into  the  King's  Treasury,  and  this  was  lavishly  expended  on  the  King's  courtiers 
and  favourites  throughout  the  country.  Large  grants  of  lands  formerly  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  religious  houses  in  the  Counties  of  Huntingdon,  Cambridge  and 
Northampton,  were  made  to  those  relatives  of  Thomas  Cromwell  who  afterwards 
came  to  reside  in  this  neighbourhood. 

As  with  the  Monasteries  so  with  the  highest  nobles  in  the  land,  Cromwell  used 
the  greatest  severity  ;  and  all  those  who  refused  to  acknowledge  the  King's 
supremacy,  or  stood  in  the  way  of  his  despotic  power,  were  sent  without  scruple  to 
the  block.  Thus  an  absolute  tyranny  was  established  and  a  reign  of  terror,  like  that 
in  the  French  Revolution,  prevailed  throughout  the  land.  Such  conduct  as  this 
necessarily  brought  on  Cromwell  the  greatest  hatred.  So  when  he  fell  under  the 
displeasure  of  the  King  because  of  the  part  he  had  taken  in  promoting  his  marriage 
with  Anne  of  Cleves,  his  enemies  found  a  reason  for  impeaching  him  in  the  Council 
Chamber  of  High  Treason,  and  sent  him  without  trial  (according  to  a  rule  he  him- 
self introduced)  to  the  Tower,  and  in  three  weeks  time  he  was  executed  on  Tower 
Hill  for  High  Treason.  This  was  in  1540.  On  his  attainder  and  death  the  title  of 
Earl  of  Essex  was  suppressed,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  in  his  2nd  title  as 
Lord  Cromwell,  and  that  title  continued  in  his  family  for  some  generations.  But 
the  Cromwell  family  who  resided  in  Huntingdonshire  and  from  whom  the  Proctector 
came,  were  descended  from  a  sister  of  Thomas  Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex.  This  6ister 
married  Morgan  Williams.  Morgan  Williams  was  a  Welshman,  who  came  into  Eng- 
land in  the  suite  of  Henry  VII.     He  had  a  son  named  Richard. 

II. — This  Richard  Williams  was  introduced  to  the  notice  of  King  Henry  VIII 
by  his  uncle  Thomas,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  became  a  great  favourite  with  the  King. 
He,  with  the  approval  of  the  King,  took  the  name  of  Cromwell  from  his  uncle,  and 


96  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

is  known  to  us  as  Sir  Richard  Cromwell  alias  Williams,  founder  of  the  house  of  the 
Huntingdon  Cromwells.  By  favour  of  the  King  he  was  made  visitor  of  religious 
houses,  and  proved  himself  very  zealous  in  the  King's  service,  and  spite  of  his 
uncle's  fall,  still  continued  in  the  favour  of  the  King. 

Great  wealth  was  heaped  upon  him.  In  1537  the  Nunnery  of  Hinchingbrooke 
with  all  lands  and  manors  thereto  appertaining  was  given  him.  So  also  in  1589  the 
Monastery  of  Saltry  Judith  in  Huntingdonshire.  In  1540  the  rich  Abbey  of  Ramsey 
with  all  its  belongings,  and  also  the  grants  of  many  other  Church  lands.  He  thus 
became  exceedingly  wealthy. 

In  1518  he  married  Frances,  daughter  of  Sir  Thos.  Murfin,  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don. By  her  he  had  two  sons,  Henry  and  Francis.  He  died  in  1546  and  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  property  by  his  eldest  son  Henry. 

III. — Sir  Henry  Williams  Cromwell,  the  sou  and  heir  of  Sir  Richard,  was  highly 

esteemed  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  was  knighted  by  her  in  1563.     Queen  Elizabeth 

slept  at  Hinchingbrooke,  his  seat,  on  August  18th,  1564,  on  her  return  from  visiting 

the  University  of  Cambridge.     This  is  the  Cromwell  that  had  the  name  of  "  The 

Golden  Knight"  on  account  of  his  great  wealth  and  liberality.     And  it  is  said  that 

he  used  to  throw  large  sums  of  money  to  the  poor  townsmen  of  Ramsey  when  he 

came  from  Hinchingbrooke  to  Ramsey.     He  made  his  residence  at  Ramsey  in  the 

Summer  and  at  Hinchingbrooke  in  the  Winter.       He  repaired  or  built  the  Manor 

House  at  Ramsey,  and  also  built  a  house  adjoining  the  Nunnery  at  Hinchingbrooke. 

He  married  twice,  first  Joan,  daughter  of  Sir  Ralph  Warren,  twice  Lord  Mayor  of 

London.  By  her  he  had  a  large  family.  Of  these  we  may  note  the  following  three  : — 

1st.— Sir  Oliver,  who  succeeded  to  his  father's  estate. 

2nd. — Robert,  who  was  father  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  Lord  Protector. 

3rd.— Henry,  who  was  a  Fellow  of  S.  John's  College,  Oxford.  He  took  his  degree 

in  1588.     Sir  Henry  married  for  his  second  wife  a  lady  named  Weeks, 

by  whom  he  had  no  children.     This  second  wife  died  of  a  lingering 

illness,  and  it  was  supposed  at  that  time  that  she  had  been  bewitched. 

Three  persons — inhabitants  of  Warboys — were  cruelly  put  to  death  on 

the  charge  of  having  practised  witchcraft  on  her  and  others.     Sir  Henry 

died  in  1603  and  was  buried  in  All  Saints'  Church,  Huntingdon.     He 

was  succeeded  by  his  son  Oliver. 

IV. — Sir  Oliver  Williams  alias  Cromwell  succeeded  his  father,  Sir  Henry  ("The 

Golden  Knight.")     This  is  the  Sir  Oliver  Cromwell  whose  name  appears  on  the 

monument  to  the  memory  of  Sir  George  Wauton,  of  Great  Staughton.      Sir  George 

Wauton  and  Sir  Oliver  Cromwell  were  great  friends  (and  they  both  were  together  in 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  97 


the  Army  which  Queen  Elizabeth  had  assembled  at  Tilbury  to  meet  the  Spanish 
Armada).*  Sir  Oliver  was  born  in  1562  and  died  in  1655.  He  was  married  twice  :— 

(1st)  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Bromley,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England. 

(2nd)  in  1601  to  Ann,  daughter  of  Egidius  Hooffman,  of  Antwerp,  and  widow  of 
Sir  Horatio  Pallavicini. 
By  Lady  Elizabeth  Sir  Oliver  had  8  children,  by  Lady  Ann  4. 
Sir  Oliver  was  very  popular  and  much  beloved  in  his  neighbourhood.  He  was 
knighted  by  James  I,  being  made  by  that  King  a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  the  Bath 
just  before  his  Coronation.  He  was  at  one  time  very  rich,  succeeding  to  the  large 
estates  of  his  father,  and  also  inheriting  a  large  estate  from  his  uncle  Richard 
Warren.  Nevertheless  he  died  very  much  impoverished.  This  change  in  his  cir- 
cumstances was  due  as  was  supposed  to  his  extravagant  mode  of  living  and  his  lavish 
expenditure  in  entertaining  his  Sovereign  at  Hinchingbrooke.  He  entertained 
James  I  there  when  he  first  came  from  Scotland  on  his  way  to  London  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  Throne  of  England.  The  King  on  leaving  said  he  had  not  been 
entertained  so  well  anywhere  since  he  left  Scotland  as  he  had  been  at  Hinching- 
brooke. And  Sir  Oliver  at  the  same  time  presented  to  the  King  many  and  most 
valuable  gifts.  It  is  supposed  that  James  visited  Hinchingbrooke  on  other  occasions 
besides  this.  Also  that  Charles  I  was  entertained  there.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
cause  of  Sir  Oliver's  impoverishment  we  find  that  at  the  end  of  his  life  he  was 
obliged  to  sell  some  of  his  estates. 

In  1627,  with  the  consent  of  his  eldest  son  and  heir,  he  conveyed  the  estate  of 
Hinchingbrooke  to  Sir  Sidney  Montague,  the  ancestor  of  the  present  owner,  the  Earl 
of  Sandwich. 

In  the  Civil  War  Sir  Oliver  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  Charles  I.  And  for  this 
purpose  he  raised  men  (at  great  expense  to  himself)  and  gave  large  sums  of  money 
to  the  royal  cause.  He  also  caused  his  sons  to  go  into  the  Royal  Army,  and  was  of 
greater  use  to  the  King  than  any  person  in  that  part  of  the  country  ;  by  which  he  of 
course  rendered  himself  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  Parliament.  His  nephew  and 
godchild,  the  celebrated  Oliver  Cromwell  the  Protector,  paid  him  a  visit  at  Hinch- 
ingbrooke, accompanied  by  a  strong  party  of  horse.  To  his  uncle  Sir  Oliver,  as  the 
head  of  his  family,  Oliver  Cromwell  (afterwards  Protector)  paid  the  greatest  outward 
respect;  standing  in  his  presence  with  his  head  uncovered  and  asking  for  his  uncle's 
blessing,  yet  he  did  not  leave  Hinchingbrooke  until  he  had  disarmed  the  old  knight 
and  seized  all  his  plate  for  the  public  service. 

*  See  "  Huntingdonshire  and  Spanish  Armada,''  by  W.  Mackreth  Xoble. 


98  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

There  is  another  interview  between  old  Sir  Oliver  and  his  famous  nephew 
recorded,  on  which  occasion  Sir  Oliver  had  to  pay  a  fine  for  his  continued  support  of 
the  Royal  cause  of  £1000,  also  to  provide  40  saddle  horses  for  the  mounting  of  the 
Parliamentary  Troopers.  It  indeed  needs  little  explanation  why  he  should  have  be- 
come impoverished  when  we  consider  that  besides  entertaining  Kings  he  contributed 
largely  to  the  support  of  the  cause  of  Charles  I  in  the  war,  and  paid  fines  to  the 
Parliamentary  party  also. 

Of  the  children  of  Sir  Oliver  we  would  note  (1)  Henry,  (2)  Thomas,  (3)  John,  (4) 
Anna. 

(1)  Henry  was  his  eldest  son  and  heir  of  whom  we  speak  in  the  next  Chapter. 

(2)  Thomas  was   the   son  of  whom   we  are  told  that  he  had  a  seat  in  Great 

Staughton,  also  that  he  was  fined  £240  for  his  delinquency  in  supporting 
the  Royal  cause. 

(3)  John  was  baptized  in  St.  John's  Church,  Huntingdon.     He  was  in  the  Royal 

Army  in  the  time  of  James  I.  He  afterwards  became  a  Colonel  of  an  English 
Regiment  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  of  Holland.  At  the  time  when 
Charles  I  was  condemned  to  die,  John  was  sent  over  by  the  Princes  of  Wales 
and  of  Orange  to  intercede  with  his  cousin,  the  Protector,  for  the  life  of  the 
King.  With  great  difficulty  he  obtained  an  interview  and  pleaded  with 
great  earnestness  for  the  King.  The  answer  of  Oliver  was  :  I  have  prayed 
and  fasted  for  the  King  but  no  light  has  been  given  me  on  the  subject." 
Then  afterwards  he  said  :  "  I  desire  you  will  give  me  till  night  to  consider 
it,  and  do  you  go  to  your  own  Inn  and  not  to  bed  till  you  hear  from  me." 
The  Colonel  retired,  and  at  one  in  the  morning  he  received  a  message  that 
"  he  might  go  to  rest  and  expect  no  other  answer  to  say  to  the  Prince,  for  the 
Council  of  Officers  had  been  seeking  God,  as  he  also  had  done,  and  it  was 
resolved  by  them  all  that  the  King  must  die." 

(4)  Anna  was  Sir  Oliver's  eleventh  child  and  the  third  child  of  Lady  Ann.     She 

was  born  in  1603,  and  married  to  John  Baldwin,  Esq.,  of  Great  Staughton, 
at  Ramsey,  September  11th,  1627.     John  Baldwin  was  in  the  Parliamentary 
interest  and  was  one  of  their  Committee  men  for  the  County  of  Huntingdon 
1647.     He  was  buried  in  the  Chancel  of  Great  Staughton  Church.     The 
inscription  over  his  grave  and  over  that  of  Anna,  his  wife,  are  given  in  the 
account  of  the  Baldwins  at  Staughton  House. 
Sir  Oliver  Cromwell  appears  to  have  been  a  tenant  of  Gaynes  Hall.      As  it  may 
be  seen  in  the  Chapter  on  Gaynes,  it  was  let  to  him  by  Agnes,  Marchioness  of  Win- 
chester, for  21  years.     Sir  Oliver  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  and  heir  Henry. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  99 

V.— Henry  Williams,  alias  Cromwell,  Esq.,  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Sir  Oliver 
Cromwell,  of  Hinchingbrooke,  was  born  August  25th,  1586,  and  baptized  the  27th 
day  of  the  same  month  in  St.  John's  Church  in  Huntingdon.  He  was  a  zealous 
loyalist  and  was  a  Colonel  in  the  Army  of  Charles  I.  He  was  taken  prisoner  in  an 
engagement  in  which  the  King  was  defeated,  and  his  estates  were  confiscated.  But 
on  petitioning  Parliament,  on  account  of  his  relationship  to  the  Protector,  the 
Sequestration  was  taken  off,  and  his  estates  were  restored  to  him.  After  this  he 
lived  a  quiet  retired  life.  The  Protector  appointed  him  Assessor  for  Huntingdon  in 
1657.  He  died  the  same  year  and  was  buried  in  St.  John's  Church,  Huntingdon. 
Through  the  losses  he  had  sustained  by  his  loyalty  and  from  his  own  want  of 
frugality  he  was  much  burdened  with  debt. 

He  was  married  (1)  to  Baptina,  daughter  of  Sir  Horatio  Pallavicini,  whose  widow 
his  father  had  married,  she  left  one  daughter ;  (2)  to  Lucy,  daughter  of  Sir  Richard 
Dyer,  of  Great  Staughton,  the  great  nephew  of  Sir  James  Dyer,  of  Place  House,  by 
whom  he  had  a  numerous  family ;  (3)  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Lucy 
and  widow  of  Sir  John  Ferrers,  who  died  childless. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

This  Cromwell  Family.     The  Charterhouse.     Staughton  Manor  House  in  1621. 

Notes  from  Churchwardens'  Books  and  Retrospective  Review. 

The  Roll  of  Honour.     The  Churchyard. 


VI. — Henry,  the  only  surviving  son  of  the  last  named  Henry  Cromwell,  took 
again  the  ancient  family  name  of  Williams.  He  was  born  at  Ramsey  in  1625,  and 
succeeded  to  what  remained  of  the  family  estate.  He  submitted  himself  to  the 
Government  of  the  Commonwealth.  He  was  in  the  Parliament  of  1654-1657.  He 
was  also  in  his  cousin  Richard's  Parliament  of  1658-9.  He  was  also  in  the  Conven- 
tion in  1660,  and  gave  his  vote  for  the  restoration  of  the  Royal  Family. 

On  account  of  the  restoration  of  Charles  II  he  thought  it  advisable  to  drop  the 
name  of  Cromwell  and  revert  to  the  name  Williams.  He  died  Aug.  3rd,  1673.  He 
married  his  second  cousin  Anna,  daughter  of  Richard  Cromwell,  who  was  remark- 
able for  her  extreme  devotion  to  the  Royal  cause.  She  survived  her  husband  and 
lived  on  a  narrow  income  at  Ramsey,  where  she  died  and  was  buried  Jan.  10th, 
1687-8.  As  she  had  no  children,  the  eldest  branch  of  the  family  became  extinct 
in  her  husband. 

Noble  says  of  this  family  :  "  The  Cromwells,  the  most  opulent  family  in 
Huntingdonshire,  after  a  decline,  totally  expired  and  their  great  estates  fell  into 
various  hands.  Ramsey,  the  richest  Manor,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  celebrated 
Colonel  Titus  by  purchase  ;  what  this  monastery  was  worth  may  be  guessed  by  the 
value  of  such  appendages  as  were  held  by  the  Cromwells,  which  would  now  (1787) 
let  for  perhaps  upwards  of  £80,000  per  annum,  but  the  estates  had  been  so  lessened 
that  this  Mr.  Cromwell  alias  Williams  had  only  £2000  per  annum,  and  that  probably 
much  encumbered.'' 

The  Branch  of  the  Cromwell  family  of  which  the  Protector  came, 

VII. — Robert  Cromwell,  the  2nd  son  of  Henry  Cromwell  (No.  Ill)  had  an 
estate  of  £300  a  year,  or  thereabouts,  left  him  by  his  Father.  He  resided  chiefly  at 
Huntingdon.  He  was  a  man  of  unambitious  disposition,  and  preferred  a  private  life. 
He  was  content  to  be  a  Member  of  Parliament  for  the  Borough  of  Huntingdon  in  the 
time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  was  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

On  one  of  the  pillars  of  S.  Mary's  Church  at  Huntingdon  appear  the  names  of 
Cromwell  and  Turpin  as  bailiffs  of  that  place  in  1600;  it  is  supposed  that  this 
Cromwell  is  the  Robert,  2nd  son  of  Henry  Cromwell.  This  Robert  is  the  Father  of 
Oliver  Cromwell  the  Protector. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  101 

We  find  the  name  of  Robert  together  with  his  brother  Sir  Oliver,  and  sixteen 
others  on  a  certificate  dated  May  10th,  1605,  to  the  Privy  Council,  "certifying  that  the 
work  of  draining  the  Fen  in  the  Counties  of  Northampton,  Lincoln,  Huntingdon  and 
Cambridge  was  feasible  and  might  be  performed  without  peril  to  any  haven  or 
county."  He  died  at  a  comparatively  early  age  in  1617.  He  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  William  Stewart,  of  Ely  (allied  to  the  Royal  House  of  Scotland,  and 
daughter  of  William  Lynne,  of  Bassing-Bourne).  He  had  3  sons  and  7  daughters. 
Two  sons  died  quite  young.  The  third  son  was  Oliver  the  Protector.  Of  the  7 
daughters,  Margaret  who  was  baptized  February  22nd,  1603,  was  married  to 
Valentine  Wauton,  of  Gt.  Staughton. 

As  Robert  Cromwell  had  but  a  small  fortune  and  a  large  family,  he  carried  on  a 
large  brewing  business.  This  business  his  widow  still  continued  to  carry  on  after 
his  death,  and  thus  was  able  to  support  and  provide  for  her  large  family.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Cromwell  was  devotedly  fond  of  her  only  surviving  son  Oliver,  and  he 
always  behaved  in  the  most  filial  and  tender  manner  to  her,  and  when  he  was 
exalted  to  power  he  gave  her  apartments  in  the  Palace  at  Whitehall,  where  she 
continued  until  her  death,  which  happened  Nov.  18th,  1654.  She  was  constantly 
wretched  from  the  apprehensions  she  had  of  danger  to  her  son.  She  wished  to  see 
him  twice  a  day,  and  never  heard  the  report  of  a  gun  but  she  exclaimed  "  my  son  is 
shot."  She  was  very  adverse  to  his  protectorate,  but  seldom  troubled  him  with 
advice.  He  always  heard  her  with  great  attention,  but  acted  as  he  judged  proper. 
She  wished  to  have  a  private  funeral  and  not  to  be  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
But  in  this  her  request  was  disregarded  by  him,  and  he  gave  her  quite  a  Royal 
funeral  and  buried  her  in  the  Abbey,  consequently  at  the  Restoration  her  body  was 
indecently  taken  up  and  thrown  into  a  hole  in  S.  Margaret's  Churchyard. 

VIII.— Oliver  Cromwell,  afterwards  the  Lord  Protector  of  England,  was  the 
only  surviving  son  of  the  above  Robert  Cromwell,  of  Huntingdon.  He  was  born  in 
St.  John's  Parish  in  that  town  April  25th,  1599,  was  christened  at  the  same  Church 
on  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  receiving  his  christian  name  from  his  uncle  and  god- 
father Sir  Oliver  Cromwell,  of  Hinchingbrooke.  He  was  sent  to  school  at  Hunting- 
don Grammar  School,  and  from  thence  went  to  Sidney  Sussex  College,  Cambridge, 
April  23rd,  1616.  His  father  died  a  year  after  his  being  at  College,  and  his  mother 
then  took  him  from  the  University  and  sent  him  to  Lincoln's  Inn  to  study  law.  He 
was  married  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Bourchier,  of  Felstead,  Essex,  on 
22nd  August,  1620,  at  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate.  In  1630  he  sold  an  estate  for  £1800 
and  bought  a  grazing  farm  at  St.  Ives.  After  this  he  inherited  an  estate  from  an 
uncle  of  his  wife  and  went  to  live  at  Ely.     Though  his  father  and  his  mother  had  a 


102  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

brewery  at  Huntingdon  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  himself  had  anything  to  do  with 
it.     In  1628  he  went  into  Parliament. 

The  above  are  a  few  circumstances  of  his  early  private  life.  The  remaining  cir- 
cumstances of  his  life  are  part  of  the  History  of  England,  and  need  not  be  referred 
to  here. 


In  the  History  of  Great  Staughton  we  hear  that  the  Charterhouse  or  Carthusian 
Monastery  in  London  was  at  one  time  Patron  of  the  living ;  it  may  be  interesting 
therefore  to  inquire  into  the  history  of  that  institution  and  its  connection  with  Great 
Staughton. 

In  1349,  when  the  Black  Plague  was  raging  in  London,  Sir  Walter  Manny,  a 
Knight,  who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  Wars  of  Edward  III,  bought  a  plot  of 
land  near  where  Smithfield  Market  now  stands,  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  and  in  this 
piece  of  land  it  is  said  that  50,000  bodies  were  buried,  and  here  a  small  Chapel  was 
erected.  Afterwards  "  Sir  Walter  Manny  endowed  this  Chapel  as  a  Carthusian 
foundation,  and  in  company  with  Sir  William  Walworth,  the  Lord  Mayor,  who  slew 
Wat  Tyler,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  first  cells." 

In  1383,  by  a  Bull  of  Pope  Urban,  the  living  of  Great  Staughton  together  with 
other  livings  was  appropriated  to  this  Monastery  as  an  endowment.  Thus  the 
Monastery  became  Rector,  Patron  and  Lord  of  the  Rectory  Manor  of  Great  Staughton 
and  so  continued  until  1539,  when  the  larger  Monasteries  were  suppressed  by 
Henry  VIII,  and  the  Rectory,  Rectory  Manor  and  Advowson  were  sold  by  him  to 
Oliver  Leder  and  Frances  his  wife  for  £1430. 

John  Heyle  (1394)  appears  to  have  been  the  first  Vicar  appointed  by  them,  and 
William  Reed  in  1506  the  last,  they  were  therefore  patrons  for  156  years. 

This  Monastery  grew  and  flourished  until  the  time  of  the  dissolution.  Then 
Cromwell  in  his  purpose  of  crushing  the  Church,  resolved  to  destroy  it,  and  because 
the  inmates  would  not  acknowledge  the  Royal  supremacy,  John  Houghton,  their  last 
Prior,  of  whom  Froude  writes  :  "  In  manner  he  was  modest,  in  eloquence  most  sweet. 
in  chastity  without  stain,"  was  with  three  other  Carthusian  Monks  hanged  at  Tyburn, 
and  with  regard  to  the  rest  "  they  were  flung  into  Newgate,  chained  to  posts  in  a 
noisome  dungeon  where  tied  and  not  able  to  stir  they  were  left  to  perish  of  goal 
fever  and  starvation,"  (so  writes  Green  in  his  "  History  of  the  English."; 

After  the  dissolution,  the  Chaterhouse  or  "  the  buildings  of  the  Monastery  "  were 
for  some  time  untenanted.  Then  they  were  occupied  successively  by  Lord  North, 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  Admiral  Howard  and  others.  In  1611  they  were  purchased  by 
a  wealthy  merchant  named  Sutton,  he  used  them  for  a  hospital  for  aged  gentle-men 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


103 


in  straitened  circumstances,  and  a  school  for  boys.  The  hospital  for  gentlemen  and 
the  school  for  boys  still  continued,  but  in  1872  the  school  was  moved  into  the 
country  to  Godalming. 

A  good  deal  of  the  property  was  then  purchased  by  the  Merchant  Taylors 
Company,  and  their  School,  which  had  been  in  Sufolk  Lane  in  the  City,  was  moved 
to  Charterhouse  Square.  It  is  somewhat  curious  that  the  Merchant  Taylors  School 
should  be  moved  to  this  place,  for  it  was  from  this  school  that  the  Fellows  of  St. 
John's  College  at  one  time  wholly  came,  and  it  is  the  Fellows  of  St.  John's  College 
that  were  appointed  Vicars  of  Great  Staughton,  of  which  living  the  Carthusians  at 
one  time  were  the  patrons. 

Addenda. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  John  Beagarie,  an  Antiquarian,  of  St.  Neots,  Hunt- 
ingdonshire, for  the  following  interesting  notes  bearing  on  the  History  of  Great 
Staughton  :  — 

1624  Sir  Robt.  Osborne 


Jan:  24 


to 


Sec.  Conway, 
commission  from  Chancery  to 


Godmanchester. 
The  Sheriff  of  Huntingdonshire,  going  by  commission  from  Chancery  to  take 
possession  of  the  Manor  of  Staughton  from  John  Throgmorton  and  deliver  it  to  Mr. 
Wauton  was  resisted,  and  several  of  his  men  slain  or  wounded.  The  house  is  double- 
moated  and  of  great  strength,  and  the  company,  most  of  whom  are  papists,  have 
entrenched  themselves  in  it,  with  aid  of  divers  foreigners  who  have  joined  them,  and 
they  do  many  unlawful  acts. 

1624  Sir  Robt.  Osborne 


Mch  12 


to  the 


Godmanchester.  Council 

made  proclamation  at  Great  Staughton  against  John  Throgmorton,  who  had  retained 
forcible  possession  of  the  Manor  House,  but  found  the  house  abandoned.      Has 
placed  ten  men  in  it  till  directions  are  sent  as  to  who  is  to  be  put  in  possession. 
1624  Sir  Robt.  Osborne 


May  5 


to 


Godmanchester  the  Council 

found  that  John  Throgmorton  had  surprised  the  Sequestrators  and  taken  forcible 
possession  of  the  Manor  House  of  Great  Staughton.   He  refused  to  give  up  Allabone, 


104  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

his  servant,  indicted  for  the  death  of  the  man  who  came  in  aid  of  the  High  Sheriff 
and  was  slain,  but  promises  to  yield  the  house,  if  so  ordered,  when  the  Council 
answers  his  petition. 


0 

0 

0 

00 

02 

06 

00 

00 

04 

00 

00 

04 

The  following  extracts  from  the  accounts  of  the  Constables  of  Great  Staughton, 
Huntingdonshire,  have  also  been  supplied  to  us  by  Mr.  Beagarie  :  — 
(169i)  pd.  in  charges,  taking  up  a  distracted  woman,  watching  her, 

and  whipping  her  next  day  ...  ...  ...       0      8       6 

(17n)  Spent  on  nurse,  London,  for  searching  the  woman,  to  see  if 

she  was  with  child  before  she  was  whipped,  3  of  them     ...       0      2      0 
pd.  Tho.  Hawkins  for  whipping  2  people  yt  had  the  small- 
pox 
(I7I5)  pd.  for  watching  victualls  and  drink  for  Ma  Mitchell 

pd.  for  whipping  her     ... 
(171?)  pd.  for  whipping  Goody  Burry 

Joseph  Rix,  St.  Neots,  October  2,  1852. 
In  an  article  on  Witchcraft  in  the  "  Retrospective  Review  "  (vol.  v,  p.  121)  it  is 
stated  that  in  1593  : 

"An  old  man,  his  wife  and  daughter  were  accused  of  bewitching  the  five 
children  of  a  Mr.  Throgmorton,  several  servants,  the  lady  of  Sir  Samuel  Cromwell, 
and  other  persons.     .     .     They  were  executed,  and  their  goods,  which  were  of  the 
value  of  forty  pounds,  being  escheated  to  Sir  Samuel  Cromwell,  as  Lord  of  the 
Manor,  he  gave  the  amount  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  Huntingdon  for  a  rent 
charge  of  forty  shillings  yearly,  to  be  paid  out  of  their  town  lands,  for  an  annual 
lecture  upon  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  to  be  preached  at  their  town  every  Lady- 
Day,  by  a  doctor  or  bachelor  of  divinity,  of  Queen's  College,  Cambridge." 
Extracts  from  the  accounts  of  the  parish  of  Great  Staughton,  Huntingdonshire  : 
(1617,  Dec.)   Itm.   paid  for  charges  spent  upon  the  man  that  watched    s.   d. 
John  Pickle  all  night  and  the  next  daie  till  he  was  married         ...     1     0 
1648,  Nov.)  Itm.  paid  to  stranger  for  helping  to  carry  the  corps  to  burial 
that  dyed  at  the  highewaie,  and  was  laid  in  the  streete  by  some  of 
the  end  ...  •••  ...  ...  ...     0    4 

Item,  paid  for  bread  and  beire  for  the  companie  then  ...     1     0 

Itm.  given  to  a  woman  that  was  bereaved  of  her  witts  the  26  of 

April,  1645  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...     0    6 

Joseph  Rix,  St.  Neots,  July  22,  1854. 
All  the  above  notes  are  communicated  to  us  by  Mr.  Beagarie. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON,  10  5 


ROLL    OF    HONOUR. 


GREAT      STAUGHTON. 


Names  of  those  who  have  been  Killed  or  Died  in  the  War,  1916. 

1.  Duberly,  Grey  William,  Major,  Grenadier  Guards,  killed  in  action  at  Neuve 

Chapelle,  March  13th,  1915. 

2.  Pickersgill-Cunliffe,  John  Reynolds,  Lieutenant,  Grenadier  Guards,  killed  in 

action  at  battle  of  the  Aisne,  September  14th,  1914, 

3.  Randolph,  Arthur  Bertram,  Lieutenant,  1st  Welsh  Guards,  killed  October 

15th,  1914. 

4.  Newman,  Harry,  Lance-Corporal,  Beds.  Regiment,  killed  near  Ypres,  October 

26th,  1914. 

5.  Cox,  Fred  James,  Lance-Corporal,  1st  Beds.,  killed  near  Bailleue,  April  28th, 

1935. 

6.  Bull,  James  Albert,  Private,  Beds.  Regiment,  killed  near  Albert,  September 

17th,  17th,  1915. 

7.  Ellis,  Herbert,  on  duty  guarding  Prisoners  at  Donnington  Hall,  died  from 

accident,  August  4th,  1915. 

8.  Hackett,  Burtwood  Charles,  Lance-Corporal,  Beds.  Regiment,  missing,  reported 

dead  May  17th,  1915. 

9.  Mayes,  Frank,  South  Wales  Borderers,  reported  missing  in  retreat  from  Mons, 

October  14th,  1914,  buried  at  Langemarck. 

10.  Wakely,  Thomas,  Naval  Air  Corps,  killed  in  an  armoured  train,  September 

25th,  1915. 

11.  Brown,  Hedley,  Stoker  on  H.M.S.  "  Aboukir,"  drowned  Sept.  22nd,  1914. 

12.  Newman,  Walter,  Corporal,  1st  Beds.,  killed  October  26th,  1915. 

13.  Simpson,  George,  Private,  1st  Northamptonshire,  killed  October  13th,  1915. 

14.  Hackett,  Elijah,  died  of  his  wounds  at  Loos,  October  4th,  1915. 

15.  Cox,  Walter  James,  The  Royal  Fusiliers  London  Regiment,  died  of  his  wounds 

Januarv  5th,  1916. 


106  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 


Names  of  those  who  have  Joined  the  Army. 

1.  Duberly,  Hugh,  Captain  and  Adjutant,  1st  Battalion  Grenadier  Guards. 

2.  Duberly,  Herbert,  Royal  Army  Service  Corps 

3.  Howey,  John,  Lieutenant,  Flying  Corps— a  prisoner.* 

4.  Mayes,  John,  Royal  Marines. 

5.  Cox,  Herbert,  Yeomanry. 

6.  Cox,  Frank,  Royal  Fusiliers  London  Regiment. 

7.  Stratton,  John,  King's  Royal  Rifles. 

8.  Stratton,  Percy,  Sherwood  Foresters — wounded. 

9.  Bruce,  Wm.  Jonathan,  Sergeant,  Beds.  Regiment. 

10.  Bruce,  Albert,  Beds.  Regiment. 

11.  Bruce,  Joshua,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

12.  Livett,  Leonard,  Beds.  Regiment. 

13.  Northfield,  Ephraim,  Beds.  Regiment — wounded. 

14.  Hackett,  Fred,  Beds.  Regiment. 

15.  Hackett,  Arthur,  Beds.  Regiment. 

16.  Hackett,  Walter,  Beds.  Regiment. 

17.  Goodman,  Frederick,  East  Surreys. 

18.  Waller,  Joseph,  Beds.  Regiment — wounded. 

19.  Bosworth,  Hugh,  Lance-Corporal,  Beds.  Regiment— wounded. 

20.  Newman,  Frank,  Oxford  and  Bucks.  Yeomanry— wounded  and  discharged. 

21.  Butty,  Edward,  Beds.  Regiment — wounded  and  discharged. 

22.  Day,  Edgar,  Sergeant,  Royal  Horse  Artillery. 

23.  Day,  Albert,  Army  Service  Corps. 

24.  Day,  William,  Royal  Engineers. 

25.  Day,  John,  King's  Royal  Rifles. 

26.  Dawkes,  Charles,  Canadian  A.S.C. 

27.  Dawkes,  John,  East  Surrey  Regiment. 

28.  Russell,  Fred.,  16th  Lancers. 

29.  Homer,  Fred.,  Grenadier  Guards. 

30.  Pell,  Charles,  Remount  Department. 

31.  Fisher,  Alfred  Sidney,  Sergeant. 

32.  Elmer,  Fred.,  Royal  Berks. — wounded. 

33.  Elmer,  Morris,  Flying  Corps. 

34.  Elmer,  Frank,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

'Lieut.  Howey  greatly  distinguished  himself.    When  the  pilot  was  killed  he  climbed  over  his 
body  and  brought  the  machine  safely  to  the  ground. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  107 

35.  Shephard,  John,  Submarine  E18. 

36.  Shephard,  Mark,  Canadian  Army. 

37.  Groom,  Joseph,  Canadian  Army. 

38.  Fensome,  Cecil,  Royal  West  Kent. 

39.  Jones,  George,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

40.  Holyoak,  Frank,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

41.  Yates,  William,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

42.  Ellis,  Albert,  Canadian  Army. 

43.  Biggs,  Joseph,  Suffolk  Regiment. 

44.  Mayes,  Herbert,  Beds.  Regiment. 

45.  Medlock,  George,  R.A.M.C. 

46.  Teate,  Harry,  Sherwood  Rangers. 

47.  Teate,  Frank,  10th  Hussars. 

48.  Teate,  Frederick,  Remount  Department. 

49.  Teate,  Arthur,  Remount  Department. 

50.  Teate,  Victor,  Northumberland  Fusiliers. 

51.  Teate,  Stanley,  Royal  Field  Artillery. 

52.  Hills,  Frederick,  Beds.  Regiment. 

53.  Hackett,  George,  Royal  Horse  Artillery. 

54.  Bird,  Fred,  Beds.  Regiment. 

55.  Neal,  Ernest,  Grenadier  Guards. 

56.  Reeve,  Charles,  Beds.  Regiment. 

57.  Pearson,  Ronald,  Quartermaster-Sergeant,  West  Kent. 

58.  Lane,  George,  Oxford  and  Bucks.  Yeomanry. 

59.  Barrs,  William,  Royal  Engineers. 

60.  Bellinger,  William,  Grenadier  Guards. 

61.  Ekins,  Frank,  Hereford  Regiment,  invalided  home  after  Typhoid  Fever,  since 

returned. 

62.  Bassingham,  Frederick,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

63.  Bishop,  Harry,  Beds.  Regiment. 

64.  Mayle,  William,  Rifle  Brigade. 

65.  Peacock,  Charles,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

66.  Gillett,  Alfred,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

67.  Peacock,  Charlie,  Royal  Garrison  Artillery. 

68.  Housden,  Albert,  Hunts.  Cycle  Corps. 

69.  Pickering,  Maurice,  Royal  Field  Artillery. 

70.  Haynes,  Albert,  Royal  Horse  Artillery. 

71.  Haynes,  Herbert,  Beds.  Regiment. 


108  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

72.  Taylor,  Edward,  Beds.  Regiment. 

73.  Leflay,  John,  Beds.  Regiment. 

74.  Pepper,  Arthur,  Beds.  Regiment. 

75.  Pell,  Frederick,  Beds.  Regiment. 

76.  Ellis,  Frank,  Beds.  Regiment. 

77.  Pratt,  George,  Royal  Engineers. 

78.  Rose,  Charles,  Royal  Engineers. 

79.  Rose,  Bertie,  Norfolks. 

80.  Hackett,  John  Charles,  Canadians. 

81.  Gibson,  Geoffrey,  Lieutenant,  B.M.E.F.,  Egypt,  invalided  home. 

82.  Gibson,  Paul,  Surgeon,  R.N. 

83.  Matthews,  George,  Herts.  Yeomanry. 

84.  Hackett,  William,  H.M.S.  "  Una." 

85.  Day,  Thomas,  Royal  Engineers. 

86.  Day,  Thomas,  10th  Beds. 

87.  Cooper,  John,  Beds.  Regiment. 

88.  Watson,  Frederick  H.,  did  six  months  Voluntary  Service  as  Motor  Ambulance 

Driver  at  the  Base  and  with  Motor  Ambulance  Convoy  at  the  Front. 

89.  Watson,  C.   Gordon,   C.M.G.,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  R.A.M.C.  (Temp.),   Com- 

mandant 1st  Red  Cross  Hospital,  B.E.F. 

90.  Watson,  Leonard  B.,  (ineligible  for  Foreign  Service)  Platoon  Commander, 

Volunteer  Training  Corps,  Deal,  for  Coastal  Defence. 

91.  Watson,    Herbert    C,    Platoon  Commander,  United  Arts  Rifles,  now  6th 

Battalion  King's  Royal  Rifles. 

92.  Day,  Reginald,  Royal  Field  Artillery. 

93.  Horner,  Frank,  Beds.  Regiment. 

94.  Maile,  Joseph,  Royal  West  Kent. 

The  above  Lists  include  (1)  all  who  actually  enlisted  from  Great  Staughton  ;  (2) 
all  whose  parents  are  living  there  now  ;  (3)  all  who  received  their  education  at  the 
School ;  (4)  all  those  who  were  otherwise  connected  with  the  Parish  in  some  way. 


A  List  of  the  Names  of  those  who  went  from  Great  Staughton  to  the 

Boer  War. 

From  the  Great  Staughton  Parish  Magazine  of  1902  we  learn,  as  follows  : — 
The  Grenadier  Guards. 
1.    Lieutenant  Duberly  went  out  to  South  Africa  in  November,  1899,  was  present 
at  the  battles  which  were  fought  on  the  Modder  River  under  Lord  Methuen, 
and  returned  to  England  in  1902. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  109 

The  Bedfordshire  Regiment. 

2.  Private  Charles  Elmer  joined  the  Mounted  Infantry  Company,  and  was  killed 

whilst  on  outpost  duty  March  11th,  1900. 

3.  Private  Fred   Stratton  joined  the  Mounted  Infantry   Company,     and  was 

wounded  on  the  same  occasion  on  which  Elmer  was  killed. 

4.  Private  Arthur  Stringer  returned  home  invalided  in  1900. 

5.  Private  John  Wakefield  joined  the  Mounted  Infantry  Company,  was  made 

Orderly  by  the  R.A.M.C.,  was  present  at  the  Relief  of  Kimberley,  the 
Battle  of  Pardeberg  and  Diamond  Hill. 

The  Hunts.  Militia  Reserve. 

6.  Private  William  Evans  went  out  in  May,  1900,  had  enteric  fever  twice,  was 

invalided  home  in  1901,  died  from  the  after  effects  of  enteric  fever  June 
26th,  1902. 

7.  Private  William  Hackett  went  out  in  1900,  returned  home  in  1902. 

8.  Private  Herbert  Haynes  went  out  in  1900. 

9.  Private  Charles  Pell  went  out  in  1900. 

10th  Royal  Hussars. 

10.  Private  Frank  Teate  went  out  in  1899  on  the  "  Ismore  Castle,'1  which  was 

wrecked  and  all  the  horses  lost ;  served  under  General  French  ;  entered 
Bloemfontein  and  Pretoria  when  they  were  taken  ;  returned  home  invalided 
from  the  effects  of  blood  poisoning  in  June,  1901  ;  afterwards  to  duty  for  a 
few  months. 

The  Rifle  Brigade. 

11.  Private  Frederick  Swales  served  under  General  Buller,  was  present  at  the 

battle  of  Colenso,  and  engaged  in  the  continuous  fighting  that  occurred 
just  before  the  Relief  of  Ladysmith,  returned  home  in  1901. 

Medical  Staff. 

12.  Mr.  C.  Gordon  Watson  went  out  as  a  Civil  Surgeon  in  1899,  served  inWynberg 

Hospital,  near  Capetown,  for  seven  or  eight  months,  afterwards  at  Kroon- 
stad  during  the  great  outbreak  of  enteric  fever,  served  in  Hunter's  Mounted 
Infantry,  present  at  the  engagement  at  Bothaville  in  which  De  Wet  was 
defeated  and  his  guns  taken,  at  which  also  Le  Gallais  was  killed, 

13.  Private  William  Peacock,  R.  A.M. C,  served  in  South  Africa  during  the  time 

of  the  whole  War,  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Colenso,  then  was  invalided 
home. 


110  HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON. 

14.  Private  Cowley,  son  of  James  Cowley,  of  Perry,  Avas  a  member  of  the  St.  John's 

Ambulance  Corps,  volunteered  for  service  in  South  Africa,  died  of  enteric 
fever,  which  he  had  contracted  on  his  way  home,  at  Graf  ham  in  1901. 

15.  Mr.   Victor  Day   served   as   Dispenser,   went  out  in  June,  1901,  served  at 

Bloemfontein  and  Lindley. 

The  Imperial  Yeomanry. 

16.  Mr.  Stephen  Powers  served  in  the  Roughriders,  went  out  in  1900,  returned  in 

1901. 

17.  Private  John  Ellis  served  in  the  Sharpshooters,  broke  his  ankle,  and  had 

enteric  fever,  he  returned  home  invalided  June,  1902. 


"THE     CHURCHYARD     CROSS." 
Lately  erected  in  the   New   Burial  Ground. 

DESIGNED    BY    J.    N    COMPER,    ESQ.,     F.S.A., 
EXECUTED     BY      W.      COUGH,      ESQ.,      ARCHITECTURAL      SCULPTOR 


FROM    A     PHOTOGRAPH     BY     MR.     WORLLEDGE,    CT.    STAUCHTON. 


TO    FACE    PAGE    CXI. 


HISTORY    OF    GREAT    STAUGHTON.  .  m 


THE     CHURCHYARD. 

An  enlargement  of  the  Old  Churchyard  was  made  when  Mr.  Wilson  was  Vicar, 
in  the  year  1863,  as  evidently  it  was  not  convenient,  nor  indeed  possible,  to  make 
this  enlargement  by  extending  the  Churchyard  in  any  direction.  A  piece  of  ground 
was  chosen  across  the  road  on  the  North  side  of  the  Church. 

It  is  remarkable  that  though  the  Old  Churchyard  had  served  the  purposes  of  the 
Parish  frcm  a  very  remote  antiquity,  this  new  ground  only  served  for  50  years.  Of 
course  the  reason  is  that  in  the  present  day  it  is  not  congenial  with  our  feelings  to 
go  on  burying  continually  in  the  same  ground,  nor  to  make  fresh  graves  by  dis- 
turbing the  remains  of  former  occupants  of  the  grave,  also  the  practice  in  the 
present  day  of  putting  memorial  stones  over  the  graves  of  friends  would  not  permit 
us  to  do  so  if  we  wished. 

The  necessity  for  providing  a  further  enlargement  of  the  Churchyard  having 
arisen,  the  late  Major  Duberly,  of  Gaines  Hall,  very  kindly  gave  an  acre  of  ground  in 
a  very  desirable  spot  for  this  purpose.  It  is  not  far  from  the  Church  on  the  road  to 
Pertenhall,  away  from  the  Brook  on  higher  ground  and  gravelly  soil.  This  ground 
was  consecrated  by  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  on  October  14th,  1913. 

All  the  expenses  of  fencing,  draining,  levelling,  laying  out  and  the  legal 
expenses  were  paid  by  public  subscription. 

Quite  lately  a  Lych  Gate  has  been  placed  at  the  entrance  to  this  new  burial 
ground  by  Mrs.  Pope,  which  adds  much  to  its  interesting  and  picturesque  appearance. 

Amongst  those  who  were  in  early  days  buried  here  was  William  Havens  Pope,  a 
resident  at  Pertenhall,  and  a  grandson  of  the  Rev.  James  Pope,  formerly  Vicar  of 
Great  Staughton,  a  man  greatly  respected  and  beloved  by  those  who  knew  him.  His 
widow  has  erected  a  beautiful  Churchyard  Cross  to  his  memory  in  this  new  ground. 
It  consists  of  a  slender  column  rising  20  feet  from  a  pedestal  of  three  steps  and 
is  surmounted  by  the  Holy  Rood. 

It  has  been  designed  by  Mr.  J.  N.  Comper,  F.S.A.,  as  a  work  cf  art  and  a 
Christian  symbol  it  fittingly  marks  the  sacredness  of  the  spot. 

The  inscription  on  the  Cross  is  as  follows  : — 

To  the  dear  memory  of  William  Havens  Pope, 

"born  at  Higham-Ferrars  the  10th  day  of  April  1840 

died  at  Pertenhall  the  19th  day  of  May  1915 

"  We  pray  Thee  help  thy  servants  whom  Thou 

hast  redeemed  with  thy  Precious  Blood, 

make  them  to  be  numbered  with  Thy  Saints 

in  Glory  Everlasting."